Name: Skinny Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1½ cups Shredded Zucchini; ½ cup Whole Wheat Flour; ½ cup All-Purpose Flour; ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder; 4 tsp. Baking Powder; ½ tsp. Salt; 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract; ½ cup White Granulated Sugar; ¼ cup Vegetable Oil; ⅓ cup Low-Fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt (or Plain); ½ cup Dark Chocolate Chips (or Chunks)

Zucchini in baked goods might sound like crazy talk, but these skinny chocolate zucchini muffins taste like all chocolate and no zucchini! They are loaded with dark chocolate chunks, vanilla Greek yogurt, whole wheat flour and fresh shredded zucchini. Since zucchini season has fallen upon us, I constantly have some in my refrigerator. Last year, I made my first ever zucchini loaf and I was stunned at how delicious it was and how you literally can-not taste an ounce of zucchini! All the zucchini does in baked goods, is add moisture.

This is such a kid-friendly dish, as it sneaks veggies in without your kids ever noticing. I have found so many great recipes for chocolate zucchini recipe bread but was looking to make a skinny version, since you know, summer bod. I started substituting ingredients for healthier alternatives and after about 4 or 5 tries, I have succeeded in finding a balanced version that is healthy and delicious! In these muffins, I use half white whole-wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. Using only whole wheat flour, will lead to dense muffins which is not so great in muffins. I use white whole wheat flour which is literally just whole wheat flour that is white, so you can use any kind of wheat flour as long as you mix it with all-purpose flour (I use a 50/50 ratio). I used a muffin tray which gave me 12 smaller muffins with only 157 calories each!

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare your 12-muffin tin by spraying it with non-stick spray or lining it with cupcake liners.

STEP 2

Shred the zucchini until you have a cup and a half.

Add the shredded zucchini to a large bowl, along with 2 eggs (at room temperature), Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, sugar and vegetable oil. Whisk together until fully combined.

STEP 3

Sift the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into the bowl of wet ingredients. Whisk just until combined. (Overmixing will lead to a dense muffin.)