Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

By btaylor

From Recipes at Penzeys Spices: Wonderfully easy and a real treat for lunch. With a delicious topping of melty chocolate chips, it doesn’t even need frosting. The invisible addition of zucchini keeps the cake very moist, and the kids will never suspect they are getting a serving of vegetables. We used zucchini that were on the small side, if your zucchini are large and mature, cut away and discard the seeds before grating.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup room temperature butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 Cups white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup milk mixed with 1/4 tsp. white vinegar
• 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 4 TB. cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Cups peeled and finely grated zucchini - 3 small zucchini
• 1 Cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 Cup chopped nuts (optional)

Details

Servings 24
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 40mins
Adapted from penzeys.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 325°. Line 2 standard muffin pans with papers.

In a large bowl, mix butter, oil and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and milk/vinegar mixture. Blend well.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir by hand to combine. Add grated zucchini and half the chocolate chips and stir well.

Spoon the batter evenly into the pans, filling each paper 2/3 full. Sprinkle the other half of the chocolate chips and nuts (if using), on top and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or they spring back when lightly touched (don’t touch the melted chocolate, though.)