Your whole family will love these nutrient-packed, delicious muffins! These healthy chocolate zucchini blender muffins are low sugar, gluten free and school safe.
Now that I have two kids in school, I’m always on the lookout for school-safe recipes for snacks that are actually nutritious–the kind that I can feel good about sending, and that my kids will actually enjoy! More importantly though, I need these recipes to be super easy for me to prepare. Having three under seven doesn’t grant me a whole lot of extra time to bake and cook elaborate foods these days. Simple is key.
Although I don’t avoid flour on purpose (I love flour!), I find that some of my favourite muffins are actually flourless! They tend to be really moist and I find that I’m able to pack quite a bit of nutrition into them without sacrificing taste. My flourless peanut butter and banana muffins continue to be a huge hit in our house, and this apple cinnamon oatmeal muffin is one of our go-to breakfast options.
When I first started experimenting with this recipe, I was skeptical as to whether or not the muffins would taste as good as my two flourless favourites mentioned above. They turned out amazing! I was actually blown away at how yummy they tasted, and the dietitian in me was pleased at how chock-full of nutrition they were. The combination of zucchini, oats, pumpkin seed butter, chia seeds, banana and eggs together provide healthy doses of fibre, protein, healthy dietary fat and lots of vitamins and minerals. All packed into one delicious muffin! As a bonus, they are school-safe and free of peanuts and treenuts! Enjoy!
Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Blender Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups of grated zucchini, squeezed of excess liquid (you can also substitute carrot for half of this)
- 1 cup pumpkin seed butter (could also use sunflower seed butter)
- 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup pasteurized honey
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 12-cup muffin tins and set aside.
- Add all ingredients except for the grated zucchini and chocolate chips to a blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips (you can add directly to the blender pitcher or you can transfer the mixture to a bowl first).
- Bake for 15 minutes (they may need another 3-4 minutes if not cooked fully) until fluffy (but when you press down, the bounce back).
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
For more delicious kid-friendly (and easy!) recipes, check out my Facebook page where I post recipes, kids nutrition tips and articles daily.
Comments
Would you store in the fridge or room temp and how do you think they’ll freeze?
I would store in the fridge or freezer for sure. They’ll stay fresh longer!
I made these this afternoon and husband and 18 month old loved them! Didn’t have honey so just used all maple syrup and allergies weren’t a concern so used almond butter. Will be making these often! So glad I found your site!
So glad! 🙂
I don’t have pumpkin seed butter can I substitute with reg butter
Hi Megan. I would try another nut or seed butter. Perhaps almond butter? Hope this helps 🙂
Could I bake this as a loaf?
I’m sure you could! You’ll want to adjust cooking temperature and time though 🙂
These are so good!
Glad you like them!
Hi there, this recipe sounds amazing! What would the approximate carb count be for one of these muffins? My 21 month old son is type 1 diabetic so Im always looking for help for nutritious recipes.
PS He loved your banana-egg breakfast muffin! Thanks.
Hi Tracy! I’m glad!! I’m not sure on the carb count… I will figure it out though!
Ok it’s about 12 grams if you divide the muffins evenly into 12. Hope this helps!
Hi there! These look super yummy and I hope to try them soon.
I wanted to mention that these aren’t necessarily school safe just because they’re peanut free. Lots of classrooms will eliminate certain foods for young children, especially milk and eggs. Just something to keep in mind because this wording can be confusing to people who aren’t familiar with allergies.
Thanks for sharing!
Hello! Just made these are they are delicious! Question for next time – does it make a difference in the order I put the ingredients into the blender? I put the pumpkin seed butter in first, but my blender on high seemed to struggle when blending the ingredients (I used my new Vitamix).
Thanks!
I would put them in all together (minus the zucchini and chocolate chips). The pumpkin seed butter alone might be too sticky. Yahoo for a new Vitamix! 🙂
I just made these muffins and they are delicious! Like a previous post mentioned, the sunflower seed butter was too sticky for my blender, so I poured into a bowl and mixed by hand. They turned out great! They have a wonderful consistency and it is hard to believe they are flourless. Thanks for the great recipe. I will be making these again!
Love these! I substituted plain low fat Greek yogurt for the maple syrup as I’m not a syrup fan. Turned out incredible! Do you have any idea of the calorie count on one of these bad boys? Thanks so much. It’s not often you find a nut free recipe. Seems as if people forget that kids with allergies turn into adults with allergies!