The unthinkable happened. My food processor is temporarily out of commission. But I’m happy to let you know that I tested these chocolate zucchini muffins without any electrical gadgets with great success. I grated the zucchini using my hand-held metal grater and mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork. It was that simple.
This recipe is based on my Chocolate Zucchini Bread using almond flour, and I used applesauce instead of oil. This is my latest endeavor, to reduce or eliminate my use of processed oils in my baking. My ultimate goal is to reduce my use of processed food to zero or close to it, if possible. I haven’t fully gotten there because I love roasted vegetables with oil. But for now, baking with applesauce is a great substitute because it lends some sweetness and moisture.
For the zucchini, I keep the green on and grate everything but the ends, however you can peel the green off if you prefer. And there’s no need to squeeze the zucchini to get the excess water out.
For the cocoa, make sure to use natural, unsweetened cocoa, not Dutch processed cocoa.
For sweetener, you can use honey in place of maple syrup. And for Keto, replace the maple syrup with sugar-free maple syrup. To go even further with Keto, replace the applesauce with oil, butter, or cream.
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins {almond flour}
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups blanched almond flour
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder you can reduce this to 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) if you prefer it lighter on the cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup or honey; add another tablespoon if you like your muffins on the sweeter side
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).
- Prepare a muffin pan with parchment muffin liners.
- All all the dry ingredients to a bowl and blend well with a fork or spoon.
- Add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend well with a fork or spoon.
- Fill each muffin liner about 2/3 of the way.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Could you use honey instead of maple syrup?
Yes! absolutely. Use the same amount.
Could you make this recipe egg free? IF so, what would you suggest?
Yes, you can use flaxseed eggs or chia seed eggs. I haven’t tested them with this recipe yet but either should work. I personally prefer flaxseed eggs which is 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal) and 3 tablespoons of water. Let it set for 15 minutes or so then use as a substitute for 1 egg. So for this recipe you’ll need to double that.