Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

 * makes twenty-four small muffins

When my friend Michael challenged me to create a recipe that used dark chocolate, I got a little worried: dark chocolate is expensive! But then I remembered that cocoa powder is deeply, darkly chocolaty, without the expense. I thought of the chocolate zucchini cake my mother made when I was growing up and knew I had something.

This is a great breakfast treat that uses staples you should generally have on hand like flour, oats, and yogurt.

The yogurt and zucchini make these muffins super moist and yummy, but still a reasonably nutritious (if slightly sugary) choice for breakfast.

Make these in mid-summer, during the height of zucchini season, when larger zucchini are really cheap. Big zucchini are generally a bit woodier, but they’re still great for baking.

Ingredients

 * 2 cups grated zucchini
 * 1½ cups all-purpose flour
 * 1½ cups oats
 * ½ cup cocoa powder
 * 1½ cups sugar
 * 1 tbsp cinnamon (optional)
 * 2 tsp baking soda
 * 1 tsp salt
 * 4 eggs
 * 1 cup plain yogurt
 * ½ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Cut off the round end of the zucchini (which is a little tough), but keep the stem to use as a handhold. Shred the zucchini with a box grater, stopping when you get to the stem.

Butter or oil 24 muffin tins, or just line them with muffin cups.

Measure the dry ingredients (flour, oats, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt) into a medium bowl.

Mix the zucchini, eggs, and yogurt in a larger bowl. Add the dry ingredients, then mix until everything is just combined. Add the chocolate chips if you’re using them, then stir once.

With a spoon, dollop the batter into the muffin tins until each cup is about ¾ full and bake for 20 minutes.

Pull the muffins out and poke with a toothpick or knife. If it comes out wet, bake the muffins for 5 more minutes.

Let the muffins cool in their tins for 20 to 30 minutes, then eat them warm!

$4.80 total -|- $0.20 / muffin


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