Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Gluten Free)

These chocolate zucchini muffins are moist, tender and delicious - everything you could want in a muffin! This gluten free zucchini muffin recipe is made with almond flour, loaded with freshly shredded zucchini and sweetened with maple syrup. Nothing but pure, simple, whole food ingredients!

I always love a good muffin...even more so when there are hidden veggies involved.

And these gluten free chocolate zucchini muffins are SO good!

They are made with almond flour, loaded with freshly shredded zucchini and sweetened with maple syrup. They aren't too sweet (which I like), but are sweet enough to satisfy the taste buds of my kids.

None of my children are fond of zucchini, but they LOVE these chocolate zucchini muffins.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins for Toddlers

While I'm all about eating my vegetables, some of my kids are a bit picky when it comes to getting in greens. Hiding vegetables in baked goods and smoothies has been my saving grace!

These chocolate muffins are sweet enough for children to find appealing, but they aren't overloaded with sugar. 

They contain simple, paleo friendly ingredients - gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free and made without vegetable oils.  Also, you cannot taste the zucchini one bit!

Ingredients

This recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins doesn't contain any oil or butter.  Yep, none at all!  It's not a necessary ingredient for getting the perfect muffin texture and flavor.

Here's a list of what you need:

• blanched almond flour
• tapioca flour
• cocoa powder
• paleo baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• fresh zucchini
• large eggs
• maple syrup
• vanilla extract

Ingredient Substitutions

Here are some simple swaps you can make for these paleo chocolate zucchini muffins:

Almond Flour

If you cannot consume almonds, but are still looking for a gluten free chocolate zucchini muffin recipe, then swap the almond flour for tigernut flour. Tigernut flour is made from finely ground tigernuts, which are small root vegetables (not actually nuts). This flour is paleo, vegan, gluten free and nut free. I love the natural sweetness and nutty flavor it has and use it in many of my baking recipes.

Tapioca Flour

Tapioca flour may be swapped with arrowroot flour/starch.   In my experience, these two ingredients are interchangeable.

Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder my be substituted with cacao powder. Both bake nearly the same.

Maple Syrup

Any liquid sugar or sweetener will work in place of the maple syrup, but I love the flavor maple syrup brings to these muffins.

How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

These muffins are made in just one bowl.  Yay!  So, so easy!

First, combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Next, add in all wet ingredients.  Mix well.  Note: to shred my zucchini, I used a simple hand-held grater similar to THIS one.  Mine is a ribbon grater, but any size/type will do.  Just be sure to measure the zucchini by weight. And no, you do not remove the excess water from the shredded zucchini - use as-is.

After mixing, pour the batter into a lined muffin pan.  I like using silicone muffin cups because they are reusable and peel off easily.

Put the muffins in the middle rack of your preheated oven.  Then, bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Lastly, take the muffins out of the oven, cool them for 5 minutes in the baking pan, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.  If using silicone liners, let the muffins cool to room temperature before removing the liners.

Storage

These healthy chocolate zucchini muffins are best stored in an air-tight container in the fridge. They will last well up to a week.

More Gluten Free Muffin Recipes

I have a large collection of healthy muffin recipes! Check out these great kid-friendly options:

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