These chocolate chip zucchini muffins are seriously tasty with a soft, moist texture and the perfect amount of sweetness. They’re loaded with chocolate chips and, of course zucchini – though you can’t taste the veggies at all! Kid approved, easy to make, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free.
I’ve been completely zucchini-crushing lately. Both literally and figuratively (as in I have a big “crush” on zucchini – as you’ll see in a few of my upcoming recipes!)
But yes, literally, I’ve been crushing zucchini. Or rather, shredding it, spiralizing it, and squeezing a whole lot of water out of it. And then of course, cooking and baking with it!
The results have been well worth the effort of squeezing – whether we’re going savory or sweet – zucchini is one happy-making vegetable. So versatile and fun, from zucchini bacon fritters to these chocolate chip zucchini muffins, to the (surprise!) recipe I have coming tomorrow.
But let’s shift over to the muffins for now – the muffins that so many of you wanted to see, at least according to my Instagram poll 2 weeks ago.
Every time I bake with zucchini, I’m amazed how well it “hides”, to the point where you can’t taste it or even SEE it, at least if you peel it before shredding.
Just a tip – I didn’t peel mine, but when I do, it literally is completely hidden in whatever I’m baking. And what does that equal? Happy kids, of course. But hey, these zucchini muffins were actually for me (the momma) and I don’t mind seeing a little green. In fact, I like seeing green 🙂
As you can see above, the batter for the muffins is quite thick – this is completely normal, since zucchini contains so much water (even after squeezing the heck out of it) and lends lots of moisture to the muffin batter.
I actually made the mistake of adding too much zucchini to batch #1 of these muffins. Let me tell you – if there’s one time NOT to indulge in your reckless side, it’s when you’re baking with zucchini.
I learned this lesson the hard way of course, and paid for it with sad, mushy muffins. I stuck to the plan with batch number 2, and was happily rewarded with muffins that were moist but not mushy, fluffy and deliciously sweet, but not too sweet!
So we’ve established that the taste and texture passed my tests, now let’s get to the ingredients!
Everything needed for this recipe is simple, and probably already in your kitchen – eggs, almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla, almond flour, and either arrowroot or tapioca flour.
The batter itself, without the zucchini, is very thick and resembles more of a cookie dough than a muffin batter – this is a good thing! Once you stir in the zucchini, you’ll have a nice thick muffin batter that will rise beautifully in the oven.
For the chocolate chips, I used Enjoy Life brand, which is not technically paleo since it contains one sugar, however it’s dairy and soy free.
For a completely paleo chocolate chip/chunk, I recommend chopping up some paleo dark chocolate (sweetened with coconut sugar) or even making your own maple sweetened paleo chocolate using my truffle recipe (just the coating!)
I hope you’re ready for some EPIC zucchini muffin baking! Get that zucchini shredded and the oven preheated – let’s do this!
Make sure to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram so I can see your incredible creations 🙂
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins {Paleo, GF, DF}
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins {Paleo, GF, DF}
These chocolate chip zucchini muffins are seriously tasty with a soft, moist texture and the perfect amount of sweetness. They're loaded with chocolate chips and, of course zucchini - though you can't taste the veggies at all! Kid approved, easy to make, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 1/4 cup smooth almond butter
- 1/4 cup organic refined coconut oil melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1/2 cup organic coconut sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 3/4 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/3 cup tapioca flour or arrowroot
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 2 cups shredded zucchini about 2 medium, water squeezed out with paper towels after shredding. Mine weighed 7 oz after squeezing the water out
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips or dark chocolate morsels*
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with parchment liners.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar and vanilla
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In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour or arrowroot, baking soda and salt.
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Using a spoon or spatula, stir the dry ingredients into the wet. The batter will be very thick at this point, and should resemble a cookie dough. The zucchini will add lots of moisture to the batter, so no worries that it’s so thick.
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Fold all the shredded zucchini (after squeezing out water) into the batter to evenly distribute, them stir in the chocolate chips, leaving a few to sprinkle over the muffin tops of desired.
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Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, fill prepared muffin cups will batter at least 3/4 of the way up, then sprinkle additional chocolate chips over the top if desired. The recipe will make about 14 muffins so you may have to bake in batches depending on your pan.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes or until set in the center and lightly browned.
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Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins:
Want More Paleo Breads and Muffins? Try One of These!
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Double Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Sweet Potato Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread {Nut Free}
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!
I love baking with zucchini! I only started baking with zucchini about a year ago, but it’s absolutely genius! These muffins look and sound delicious and would make such a great sweet snack!
They’re definitely a great one to try out!
Perfect recipe to meal prep this weekend! That texture is ON POINT. Can’t wait to try these!!
Enjoy!
HI! These look great. Is it 19 carbs / muffin?
Thank you
Yup, if you make 14. Much of the carbs are from the chocolate chips though since it’s a full 1 cup! You can reduce coconut sugar and chocolate a bit to lower the carbs 🙂
Great!! T1D…gotta watch those carbs:)
Love what you cook, but, sorry, I am grossly put off by the ads – particularly on this post. I know you get paid for it, but it is getting very hard to find your posts amid all the junk. Good luck to you, anyway.
I love your baking but, sorry, I am grossly put off by the ads – particularly on this post. I know you get paid for it, but it is getting very hard to find your posts amid all the junk. Good luck to you, anyway.
At what point do we use the 2tbsp lemon juice? Sorry I can’t seam to find this step…
I’m really excited to be planting my garden soon! I’m going to make sure I’ve still got this recipe come zucchini season!
In the list of ingredients baking powder is not listed, however, in step 3 of the instructions baking powder is listed as one of ingredients. If it’s part of the recipe how much should be used? Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Hi, these looks great! But I went to make them and I am a bit confused with the recipe. In the ingredients it says 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, but in the directions I don’t see anything about where to add it. Also, in the dry ingredients part, you mention baking powder, but that isn’t in the ingredient list. Just a bit confused as what to do.
I noticed that too. Made them without the lemon juice and they were delicious!
Also didn’t see when to add lemon juice, so. I left it out. Also I only see baking soda, not baking powder as others have mentioned.
Hi I want to try to make these but I don’t have the arrowroot flour, can I get away with just using the blanched almond flour?
Yes that should be fine, texture might change a little bit – I’d replace the amount of arrowroot with the blanched almond.
Hi! These look great and are perfect for my grain free/low FODMAP diet. Question, if I wanted to make the muffins themselves chocolate, would you recommend just added the cacao powder to the recipe, or subbing out one of the other flours first?
Hi! I have a chocolate zucchini bread recipe that you can look to for guidance – it’s similar to this one except altered to include raw cacao powder – here it is:
Hi my partner is allergic to almonds, do you think brown rice flour or cassava flour would work for this recipe?
I made these muffins and they’re wonderful. As a couple others have said, the recipe is incorrect somewhere. The ingredients list 2 teaspoons of lemon juice which is not stated in directions on how to use. Also, the directions say to include baking powder and baking soda, but there is no listing or amount to use of the baking powder. Please fix this in the recipe. I love your recipes but I need them correct as I am not talented enough to figure it out for myself! Thanks much! However, the muffins are delicious.
I’m new to your blog! I saw these muffins on Instagram, I believe. Do you ever use protein or collagen powder in your baking? I’m wondering if 1 or 2 scoops could be added to these? Thanks! These look great!
I want to eat this chocolate chip right now. i can’r control on myself. Thank you so much for share this recipe. now i will share this recipe with my friends..
The texture was spot on! you can’t tell these are gluten, dairy free or paleo. They taste just like regular vanilla muffins with chocolate chips. i’m wondering if the recipe really requires 2 cups of shredded zucchini or not, i only used 1 cup and the texture was perfect. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
The texture was spot on! you can’t tell these are gluten, dairy free or paleo. They taste just like regular vanilla muffins with chocolate chips. i’m wondering if the recipe really requires 2 cups of shredded zucchini or not, i only used 1 cup and the texture was perfect. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
❤️these muffins! However, to cut down on carbs I used only 1/2 cup chocolate chips and I also used the Zest from the half of lemon that I used for the juice. I love the slight hint of zip that it adds! So ? tasty! Fresh is always best, but if you are like me I like to do my prep work ahead of time. So I shredded a lot of zucchini and froze it into 2 cup Ziploc bags. If you choose to do this remember you really need to drain the liquid off after it has thawed, before you add it to the recipe.
That’s a great idea, glad it worked out well!
Made these this week and they were sooooo good! My kids (2 and 4 y/o) gobbled them up! Thank you ?
When do you add lemon juice? I left it out the first time and they were amazing.
Everything I have made of your has been amazing! Made these muffins today and they are so good too. I’m loving this!
What is the lemon juice used for? It’s in the ingredients list, but not mentioned in the recipe steps.
Amazing muffins! Moist, not too sweet, a favorite now in our household!
I made these muffins tonight and they were amazing!! Thank you!
Wonderful. Moist easy just the right amount of sweetness. I saw another recipe on a different website that had a cup of almond butter! I served these to guests the morning after my daughter’s wedding…they were very popular!
Have you tried them with flax eggs? Thanks
Just made these today. I followed the recipe but I couldn’t find where to put the lemon in? Also I added some cinnamon!
Have you ever used frozen or canned zucchini for recipes like this? It’s very water logged & you have much less once you squeeze as much water out as you can.
No I haven’t, but I’d imagine as long as you squeeze lots of water out the measurement would be the same.
I just asked someone about this, and they said to pull the zucchini out of the freezer and add it to the recipe when it’s still half frozen. That way, there’s not so much water to deal with.
Hi! When do we add the lemon juice?
My favorite. Can’t live without them
This is my new go-to muffin recipe! The first time I made it, I used a food processor to shred the zucchini, so the shreds were a bit too large and the muffins were a bit mushy. This time, I hand grated, and also subbed in some grated carrots to reduce the moisture. I used cinnamon and raisins instead of the chocolate chips. Lastly, I ran out of tapioca starch this time so I used potato starch instead, and it still turned out well.
Ohmygosh. There aren’t enough words for how much I love these muffins. ❤️ Thank u for another amazing recipe!
Absolutely the best Paleo muffins we have ever tasted! Thank you so much!!!
These were easy to make and delicious! For Paleo diets and general eaters!LOL Everyone enjoyed these muffins. I will definitely be baking these again.
I made a batch of these today and they were absolutely delicious, fluffy, and devoured in an instant. Only comment is that the instructions do not list where to add the lemon juice, and as a result I completely forgot to put it in. Tasted great regardless, but the punch of lemon would have made them sing.
Love these and make them often!! Wondering if I could sub sunflower butter ?
I made these this morning (in the form of six monster muffins). So lovely and moist! The zucchini really does make the muffin so deliciously soft and just a tiny bit gooey. I added walnuts and raisins as well.
Love your recipes! These are amazing! So moist and delicious and just the right amount of sweet. Thank you for giving my zucchini purpose.
I was disappointed. Mine came out very dry. Don’t get carried away squeezing the water out of the zucchini. I used a cotton cloth and really wrung it out and needed that extra moisture.
This is a very nice muffin recipe – moist and chocolatey sweet! Next time I’ll try leaving out the chocolate and adding pecans or dried fruit.
I’ve made these several times now. This recipe is definitely a winner. I even use half the chocolate chips in the recipe. My super picky eater daughter loves them. Made them with my granddaughters yesterday and they took the entire batch home and mom asked me to send her the recipe. None of them eat paleo.
I’m new to baking with flour alternatives. I used coconut flour and arrow root starch flour. I shredded my zucchini the night before and had it in a paper towel in the refrigerator. I completely had a baking fail. I’m not sure if different flour makes a change or what I did wrong. My batter was a dry crumbled mess. Any thoughts?
yes I made these zucchini muffins the directions were easy to follow the muffins came out well will make again and again
This was absolutely delicious. I enjoyed the texture and taste thoroughly.
These were SO good. Definitely the best gluten-free muffin recipe I’ve made off the internet.
My kids loved these! Thank you!!
OMG. These are light, fluffy and delicious. I didn’t have coconut sugar so subbed in 1/4 cup maple syrup.
Oh my! So so good! Everyone in the family loved it!
These were so yummy! my 1.5year old loved them. I am just wondering if anyone has had success freezing these?
So good! I used 60% cacao chocolate chips, regular size since I couldn’t find minis, so only used 1/2 cup. Followed recipe besides that and they are delicious. I mean really really good. My skeptical hubs even said so and my 12 year old daughter admitted so even if she didn’t want to. Will be a snack for me each day. Can these be frozen?
I just popped these in the oven – then I saw the lemon juice on the counter. There was no instruction for the lemon juice!! 🙁
I don’t bake much so I followed the instructions carefully – I guess it should have gone in with wet ingredients.
I just did the same thing! My lemon is just for countertop decor I guess haha Wish she would update the instructions.
So incredibly delicious. I will be making these often.
We made these and they are terrific. They directions were missing the lemon juice and something else.
Can you leave a note of how to bake this as a bread? Temp and time?
I didn’t have any chocolate chips so I substituted 1/4 cup cacao powder and 1 tbs pure maple syrup. They were amazing! Rich chocolate muffins!! p.s. no lemon juice
Just making these this AM. Your list of ingredients mentions lemon juice, but nowhere in your instructions does it mention it again (when combining wet ingredients). Is this a necessary ingredient? I’ve never used lemon juice unless I’m “making” buttermilk with almond milk. I’m guessing that it’s supposed to be there with the almond butter and baking soda?? Thank you!
These are AMAZING! They are perfect for when you want some zucchini bread but also want some chocolate 🙂 I left out the lemon juice and added a dash of cinnamon and they were delicious! I’ve already shared this recipe with my family, I will be making these again!
These were absolutely amazing!! I even cut the coconut sugar down to 1/3 cup. I also added 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp cloves. DELISH!
These are awesome. Great texture and gooey chocolate goodness from the chocolate chips. I used Pascha semisweet chips. A definite keeper even for non paleo friends assuming I can bear to part with any…
I took the idea of this recipe and altered it a bit. I used cashew butter (instead of almond butter) and ghee (instead of coconut oil). This made for a lovey and rich buttery flavor. Instead of lemon juice I substituted vanilla extract and grated, raw apples instead of zucchini. I added cinnamon and pecans pieces in the batter as well, about 1/2 cup. The texture was AMAZBALLS!! Soft and moist with a lift similar to cake. I’m definitely going to use this recipe often! I think my next try I’ll do this in a cake pan and add a crumb topping!
Wow! You would never guess these are gluten free. All 5 of my picky eater children approve!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I have made it three times and found that the baking time for my oven ( convection baking setting) is best at 25 mins. This last time I made a slight change to the recipe by reducing the almond flour to 1 and 1/4 cup and using 1/2 cup coconut flour ( I ran out of almond flour). I love the hint of coconut that it adds!
This was a great recipe. Delicious and did not taste like a grain-free or gluten free substitute at all! My husband loved them.
I made these last week for the family and they were such a huge hit that they have all been eaten and I’ve already whipped up another batch. Thank you for this amazing recipe. Nice to have another healthier treat handy for those after school hangries!