Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Fluffy vegan chocolate zucchini muffins that are so moist and rich! These muffins have large bakery-style tops and come together in one bowl. They’re a great way to use your extra zucchini, just like my vegan zucchini muffins and chocolate zucchini bread!
Ingredients you’ll need
Notes about the ingredients
Grated zucchini and there’s no need to squeeze it! The excess moisture from the fresh zucchini is balanced with a lower ratio of dairy-free milk so your muffins aren’t too moist. I used a food processor for shredding my zucchini, but a box grater is fine.
However, if your zucchini happens to be extra wet, I recommend removing some of the moisture with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.
Brown sugar for depth of flavor and moisture. Granulated sugar or coconut sugar will also work!
Dairy-free milk. I prefer soy milk in baked goods as it’s higher in protein which makes muffins more tender. However, any milk will work for example, almond milk or oat milk.
Unsweetened cocoa powder. If your cocoa powder is lumpy, sift it before using it in the recipe.
Even though these muffins are eggless, we don’t need any special egg replacers to make these muffins light and fluffy.
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make vegan chocolate zucchini muffins
Like most of my recipes, you’ll only need one large mixing bowl to prepare these easy muffins!
All you have to do is whisk the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients and stir until combined. We’re adding the sugar with the wet ingredients so it dissolves quickly.
The consistency of your batter will depend on how you measured your flour/sugar and how you shredded your zucchini. If you used measuring cups and packed your cup with too much flour, your muffins will be dry. I recommend using the spoon and level method or the grams method.
Also, avoid overmixing your batter. Overmixing leads to tough and dense muffins that can have gluey streaks.
Extra tips for bakery-style muffin tops
These vegan double chocolate zucchini muffins will bake beautifully as they are, without any modifications!
For extra tall muffin tops, my biggest tip is to space the muffins apart in your muffin tin (pictured below). This encourages more oven heat to circulate each muffin which encourages them to grow more. If you have only 1 muffin tin, you’ll need to bake 6 muffins at a time.
You can also:
- Initially bake the muffins at a higher oven heat. Preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F), bake them for 5 minutes then reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F) for around 20 minutes. The initial burst of heat encourages the muffins to grow taller. But we reduce the temperature otherwise the muffins be dry!
- Rest your muffin batter in the fridge for 2 hours (if you have extra time). This allows the flour to absorb the wet ingredients which creates a thicker batter that domes more. However, I prefer the other tips as they’re much quicker :).
I only used the first tip for the pictured muffins :).
Customizing the muffins
Yes, some other delicious add-ins include:
– chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds
– chocolate chunks (instead of dark chocolate chips)
– vegan white chocolate chips, for those chocolate lovers!
– 1 teaspoon espresso powder for a deeper chocolate flavor
If you’d like muffins without zucchini, see my vegan chocolate muffins or my other vegan muffin recipes!
Gluten-free version: My team and I have tested these muffins with King Arthur’s gluten-free measure for measure flour and they work well! If using, I suggest baking the muffins for around 27-30 minutes.
Heathier zucchini muffins: Use whole wheat flour or spelt flour but an an extra dash of milk as those flours are more absorbent.
You can reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup (145g) without any drastic changes (the muffins will be less moist and smaller). Or use coconut sugar for less sweet muffins.
I don’t recommend using other sweeteners, like maple syrup or mashed banana, in the same amount. You’ll need to do your own testing to find a ratio that works for you.
I recommend checking out my recipes for chocolate zucchini bread and regular zucchini bread instead. Quick breads are larger than muffins and need to be sliced, so benefit from an egg replacer.
More vegan muffin recipes
See my full collection of easy vegan muffin recipes.
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Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) coarsely shredded zucchini, (around 1 medium large zucchini)
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar, granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- ¾ cup (190g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil, such as a light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Dry ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose plain flour, spoon and leveled (note 2 for gluten-free)
- ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, optional
- ¾ cup (130g) vegan chocolate chips, optional, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners.
Make the vegan chocolate zucchini muffins
- Add all the wet ingredients to a large bowl and mix until combined and there are no bits of zucchini sticking together. Add the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips and mix until just combined. If you're using chocolate chips, add them to the batter and gently fold them through.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide the batter into your muffin pan. The batter should fill each muffin cup almost completely (check the step-by-step images above, note 3). If desired, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top.
Baking and storing the muffins:
- Bake the muffins for 23-27 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in a muffin and it comes out clean. These muffins are moist so a few crumbs on your toothpick are fine. Try to avoid overbaking the muffins otherwise they'll be dry.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes (or until they aren't too hot) then place them on a wire rack.
- Enjoy the muffins warm or at room temperature.
- Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- For the best results, I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients. It’s difficult to measure flour and zucchini accurately with measuring cups. If you only have cups, make sure you don’t pack the flour into the cup. Instead, use a spoon to fill up the measuring cup and level it with the flat side of a knife. Using a measuring cup to scoop flour out of a container will pack in too much flour and make these muffins dry and dense.
- Gluten-free version: We tested these muffins with King Arthur’s gluten-free measure for measure flour and they work well! If using, I suggest baking the muffins for around 27-30 minutes. Other gluten-free flours may produce different results.
- To get higher muffin tops, I recommend baking 6 muffins at a time in a 12-cup muffin tray. Spacing apart the muffins allows the hot oven air to bake them faster, resulting in higher tops. This means you’ll need to bake the muffins in 2 lots.
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delicious and insanely moist even after multiple days. also freeze great! just reheat in the microwave for 45-1min
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, we’re so glad you enjoyed them! We love how well they freeze too!
Hi, can the batter be left in the fridge overnight? Then left at room temp before baking?
Hi, I haven’t tested this method for this recipe, but it should be ok! I would leave the batter in the bowl and divide it in the muffin pan before baking. Make sure you don’t mix the batter after it has chilled but then bake the muffins while the batter is still cold. They might need an extra few minutes in the oven. Let me know how you go!
We only had a mini muffin tin, so we went for it with your recipe. Delicious and adorable! But make sure to bake for just 10 minutes 🙂
Hi Mixelle, that’s wonderful to hear! And thanks for the tip about the baking time too 🙂
Very tasty and moist! I ran out of cacao powder and had to sub half of it with carob powder, which makes it taste a little different (tip: carob is a low histamine and coffein free sub for cacao). I only used 100 g of sugar and it’s the right amount of sweet for people used to healthier eating we think.
So glad you enjoyed these muffins with less sugar, and a blend of cacao powder and carob powder! I’ll have to try these with carob next time. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here!
Have made these a few times, and they are so good! My dairy-eating Mum ate one, and they were that yummy she asked for the recipe and she baked them at home <3
love that there's no fancy egg replacements in it. I have even used melted spreadable vegan butter in place of the oil when we had none left (i went by cup measurement for it)
I’m so happy that you loved these and got to make them a few times! And that’s soo sweet (and a big win) about your mum too 😍
And great to hear that spreadable vegan butter works too – I’ll need to do that next time I run out of oil. Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback!
absolutely delicious, will be making again – thank you!
Hi Sam, I’m so glad to hear!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Thanks for this great recipe! I used only 1/2 cup sugar and they were still sweet enough…for me anyways!
Great to know that you enjoyed them with less sugar! Thanks so much for your review, Elizabeth 🙂
Perfect recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it.
I’m so glad to hear that, Martha! Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
I tried half brown sugar and half allulose. It was a little less sweet than I like.
I was wondering if I could more finely grate the zucchini next time? If so, how much should I use?
Hi Cyndi, allulose has about 70% of the sweetness as regular sugar so it makes sense that your muffins were less sweet. With the zucchini, I have only tested the recipe as it’s written. However, from experience, you should be able to use the same amount of zucchini if you finely grate it.
I followed the recipe to a T and they tasted & looked amazing. I appreciated the tip on giving that burst of heat the first 5 minutes! They puffed right up. The chocolate was rich & honestly if I hadn’t made them myself I would’ve never guessed they had zucchini!
Hi Jennifer, aw I’m so thrilled that you loved these muffins and that they baked well for you!! And I love that the zucchini wasn’t detectable. Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
Delicious, a chocolate muffin that doesn’t crumble! Will be a favourite in our household. Thank you!
Sorry for the late reply, but I’m so glad that you enjoyed these!! Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
Hi Anthea! Thank you so much for another magnificent recipe! These are my favorite chocolate muffins for the moment. They are rich in taste, moist and so delicious! I replaced sugar with 200 g allulose – and they turned out perfectly well. Not overly sweet (bitter chocolate taste). I wonder if it’s possible to substitute oil for smth? Or maybe at least half of the oil? In order to make muffins a little healthier? Would appreciate your advice.
Hi Alina! Aw, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed these muffins and that it worked with allulose! You can try to replace the oil with yogurt, applesauce or even mashed banana, but it will make the muffins denser. I hope that helps!
Hi there! Do you need to squeeze the liquid from the zucchini first?
Hi Bec, no you don’t, unless your zucchini is very very wet!
Just made these and they were gone by the next day! My family loved these! You can’t even tell zucchini was added!
Thank you! Can’t wait to try more recipes by you!
Oh I’m so thrilled that your family enjoyed these muffins!! Thanks so much for your support Natalie, and I hope you enjoy anything else that you get to bake!
I made these so easy and tasty cupcakes for my son in law’s birthday. They are so delicious and moist and sweetness is perfect.
This recipe will be pinned as my favourite in my file.
Thankyou for creating this and can’t wait to try the bread version.
That’s so wonderful to hear, Bhavini! And I’m thrilled that this recipe will be a keeper for you. Thanks a million for your feedback!
The BEST muffins ever!!!!!! I will only use this recipe from now on. I was worried if it would be too wet by not squeezing out the liquid from the zucchini but it wasn’t. These muffins are moist and yummy. I also used only 100g of sugar and coconut oil instead of butter. Thank you for yet another great recipe Anthea!!!!!
Aw, that’s so very kind, Alea!! I’m so happy that you enjoyed them with reduced sugar and coconut oil. Thank you so much for your support, I appreciate it a lot! x
Good Morning, will this recipe work with gluten free flour? Thank you
Hi Adriana, it will work with some brands of gluten-free flour so it’s best to use one that you trust and have used in vegan baking. Hope that helps!
These turned out great! I replaced half the oil with applesauce, otherwise made them exactly as written. Thanks for the recipe! 🥰
That’s wonderful to hear, and I’m sure many other readers will appreciate your tip about the oil! Thanks so much for the review!