Friends, it’s gorgeous here in the high Oregon desert. Don’t you just love this time of year? Fall is the ideal time for baking with home grown ingredients and for whipping up theseFlourless Chocolate Zucchini Brownie Muffins! Don't forget to bake a little extra to enjoy later in the cold of winter. (How to store them? Keep reading.)
I’ve been busy in the kitchen baking dozens of these delicious chocolatey muffins with zucchini from our garden. They are mine and Vern’s favorite dessert. This is a no-flour, healthy ingredients, option for those of us who want a sweet without an overabundance of sugar or calories. The recipe is for 12 muffins and is easily adapted to a single 9” x 9” baking pan.
The actual sugar content depends on the type of chocolate chips you use. Dark chocolate has less sugar and is what I used in this recipe. You can use whatever type of chips you prefer. The nutrition information, further down on this page, is for milk chocolate, because the calculator doesn’t have a dark chocolate option. Sugar in this recipe is primarily from honey. For less than 17.4 grams of sugar, use dark chocolate chips, and you can lower it further by ½ cup instead of ¾ cup chocolate chips. (If you adapt this recipe, please share with us in the comments what you added or subtracted and how it turned out.)
No Flour, Chocolatey Zucchini
Brownie Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup grated zucchini, not squeezed
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup raw honey
5 tablespoons softened butter or oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup finely ground almond meal (almond flour)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I use small, extra dark chocolate chips)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions for Twelve Muffins
1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by either spraying with a nonstick spray or lining with muffin liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients, grated zucchini, eggs, honey, butter, and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly blended.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients, almond meal, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Mix the dry ingredients, making sure everything is thoroughly blended.
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Mix until all of the dry ingredients are just blended. Add chocolate chips and the optional nuts. Mix well, but do not over mix it.
6. Spoon into a muffin pan, filing each cup 2/3 full. Bake for 35 minutes.
PRESERVING BAKED GOODS
My goal is to have eight dozen assorted, made from scratch, muffins in the freezer. You see, I’m working on reframing my belief about winter. My former attitude has been that it’s going to be a drag because…then I’d list all of the things the freezing cold weather prevented me from doing. Instead, I’m preparing for an exceptional and enjoyable winter. Muffins and coffee, for instance, can be enjoyed with a good book. This November is the beginning of our Great Books series of author conversations. I plan on having a small stack of Great Books to read when icicles hang from our eaves.
To preserve your baked goods, simply wrap individual muffins in plastic wrap or the equivalent, place them into zip locked bags, squeeze out the air, and store for up to six months. Putting up an extra dozen or two of these yummy, melt-in-your-mouth muffins is as easy and as delicious as pie! Give it a try and drop me a note in the comments letting me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Love & Blessings,
Pamela
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories
180
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10.6g 14%
Saturated Fat 6g 30%
Cholesterol 46mg 15%
Sodium 161mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 21.4g 8%
Dietary Fiber 2.3g 8%
Total Sugars 17.4g
Protein 3.5g
Vitamin D 6mcg 31%
Calcium 39mg 3%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 157mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet.2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Recipe analyzed by Very Well
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