Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are fluffy, oil-free, 1 bowl and ready in 30 minutes! These are super rich, decadent, moist and unbelievably vegan!
VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
There is nothing I enjoy more than creating decadent desserts in a much healthier, wholesome way. Like sneaking sweet potatoes in chocolate chip muffins. Creating baked goods that taste just as amazing as the oil and butter filled ones is something that I enjoy immensely. These Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are a prime example. These babies taste like pure decadence and are so moist, you’d swear they are full of oil. But, nope! No oil, no nuts and no coconut!
HOW TO SUBSTITUTE OIL IN BAKING
I’m an oil-free baker. On my blog I focus on oil-free vegan recipes and it’s one thing that readers rely on when they visit here. Oil-free options! But, fear not, as the reviews say, they taste every bit as decadent as the oil-laden recipes, I assure you. I don’t like mediocre diet-tasting desserts. I replace oil with other moisture ingredients like nuts, applesauce, pumpkin and nut butters. For these muffins, I used zucchini. For more oil-free tips, check out How to Cook and Bake Without Oil.
When a recipe calls for zucchini, it is often listed as shredded/grated by cup amounts. The issue with that can be adding too much or not enough or not wringing out the moisture and the results can be all over the place.
So, I came up with the easiest idea ever so that you get exactly the right amount of zucchini you need for perfect results in these muffins, and the zucchini is not only invisible to the eye, you cannot taste it whatsoever. Nobody will ever know!
MY TRICK?
Zucchini pureed with the water! No shreds or bits of zucchini in sight. This way the water and zucchini blended together become a super creamy, smooth puree that gives all the moisture and texture to the muffins. I came up with this idea based off of my Chocolate Peppermint Muffins from my Desserts EBook. My favorite muffin recipe ever are those because the texture is simply divine. So fluffy, so moist, but shockingly gluten-free. That recipe uses applesauce and water. So all I really did was sub the applesauce/water for zucchini and water and pureed so it would be the same texture as applesauce. It worked brilliantly.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
All you need is 1 bowl and 8 ingredients (+salt & water):
- superfine oat flour
- potato starch
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- baking soda
- maple syrup
- zucchini
- vanilla extract
- chocolate chips
First, peel and slice the zucchini and then weigh 150 grams.
It’s important to weigh the zucchini AFTER you’ve peeled and sliced it, so you get exactly the right amount of moisture.
Add the zucchini and the water to a food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth.
Add the zucchini puree, maple syrup, vanilla extract and chocolate chips to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
The batter is insanely delicious, so try not to eat too much of it.
Divide the batter into 11 muffin liners. Using an ice cream scoop helps to make the perfect size and beautiful rounded dome tops while baking. Place a few extra chocolate chips on top, if desired.
Bake at 350°F for about 18 minutes until fluffy and a toothpick is basically clean.
I mean, that inside shot…fluffy, moist, chocolate perfection. Cool 15 minutes to allow them to finish cooking or they’ll be gummy. Devour!
MORE VEGAN MUFFIN RECIPES TO TRY
- Vegan Gluten-free Blueberry Muffins
- Best EVER Vegan Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten-free Double Chocolate Muffins
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
- Bakery-Style Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
- Caramel Crusted Pumpkin Muffins
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Muffins
- Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins
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If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (192g) superfine oat flour
- 2 tablespoons (20g) potato starch (this starch helps to make them tender/fluffy) I purchase mine here, it's very inexpensive and I use it for a lot of my recipes.
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (36g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 150 grams of peeled/sliced zucchini (see directions)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (150g) water
- 1/2 cup (160g) pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (180g) dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (I did a combo of dark and semi-sweet)
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
- I use this scale.
- This is the food processor I use for all of my recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 11 liners. I use parchment paper liners or the Reynolds Staybrite and they never stick.
- To a large bowl, add the oat flour, potato starch, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and whisk very well. I then sifted everything over a mesh strainer to ensure everything was smooth, as my cocoa powder was very lumpy. If yours is, I highly recommend the same so you turn out smooth muffins. Set aside.
- Peel and slice some zucchini and THEN weigh 150 grams. I used about 1 1/2 small zucchini. It's important to weigh the zucchini AFTER you've peeled and sliced it, so you get the exact right amount of moisture.
- Add the sliced zucchini and the 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (150g) water to a food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth. See photo for reference. This will be your zucchini puree.
- Add the zucchini puree, syrup, vanilla and chocolate chips to the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Stir gently around the bowl and the bottom until smooth and mixed, being careful to mix just until combined, as oat-based batters can turn into dense muffins if over-mixed.
- Divide the batter into 11 muffin liners. Using an ice cream scoop helps to make the perfect size and nice rounded dome tops when they bake up. Place a few extra chocolate chips on top, if desired. Sure makes them look prettier.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes. Mine were perfect at 18 minutes for each trial. They should be super fluffy and firm to the touch. A toothpick should basically be clean, but it's hard to check if they are done that way with all the chocolate chips in there, which can be deceptive, so poke around a few times with a couple of different toothpicks to check for doneness.
- Cool 15 minutes in the pan. This is rather important to let them cool before eating, as they will still be finishing cooking and if you try to eat one right out of the oven, they will taste under-baked and gummy. Cooling will result in a tender, fluffy muffin. Now devour and enjoy that amazing rich chocolate decadence!
I’m excited to try these. Can I use almond flour instead of oat flour?
Thank you!
Hi Wendy, unfortunately the almond flour would make them way too wet and moist!
These turned out great! My 7 year old son, loved them. Which is what I was aiming for. I didn’t have fine pay powder, so I ground my own. Which I actually believe made them feel healthier to me. I know my son is getting veggies with loads of fiber all in one! I will cut the maple syrup in half next time, they were almost to sweet for my team. I also cut the chocolate chips by 50 grams (I made a double batch to freeze some).
So happy they were a hit, Evan!!
Just made these… they are DELISH! You can’t taste the zucchini at all. My 6yo was skeptical about putting zucchini in muffins but was pleasantly surprised at how yummy they are!! I always go to the comment section of recipes to see how they turned out for others so here I am giving a 10/10 for others coming here to do the same!
Love, love hearing this Nicole!!
These muffins were perfect. I have made GF oil free muffins before and they have never risen and looked as beautiful as these. Another fabulous, can’t go wrong, from The Vegan 8!
Thank you!
So happy to hear this Ruth!
Okay, these muffins are perfect! I didn’t think they would turn out so delicious.. They are going to be part of my regular recipes, thank you so much
Yay!!
Was incredibly surprised at how fluffy they were! And they are really easy to make.
This are excellent! I’ve made them several times for my chocoholic elderly mom. She loves them! One question, with date syrup work in place of the maple syrup? Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe!
I found the recipe confusing, you have zucchini puree and then you have 1/2 +2 T water.
So when you add the succhini puree is it all of the puree which makes more that 1/2c + 2T, more like 1 c of puree.
To make it again clarity is needed.
Edited it to make more sense! Just refresh the page to see the changes.
I love these, and make them a lot. I didn’t have zucchini. So I used leftover steamed/cooked beets and little extra water (40g /ml more). And they are also fantastic. That rich earthiness works well with the chocolate also.
So if you don’t have zucchini. Beets will definitely work!
That is so wonderful to hear Jen!
These are absolutely incredible! A hit even amongst my non vegan family members.
Simply put, these are amazing. My husband is finally saying that these are the perfect, most delicious chocolate muffin ever. If there was 10 stars I would have given that rating.
Yay, that is awesome to hear!!
WOW! So yummy! Thanks fo much for sharing this recipe. It’s the best GF and Vegan muffins Ive ever made! Seriously, first fluffy GF anything I’ve ever made, usually GF stuff is so heavy and dense.
These are absolutely incredible!! Quick and easy to make as well. Thank you!
Amazing as everything that has TV8 brand!!! xx
Perfect in every way, and a total gift of a recipe. Literally obsessed!
Do yourselves a favor and buy the recommended scale and ingredients listed above because she mastered this one. Why mess with it?
I don’t have a scale. How much zucchini purée should I measure out?
It’s listed on the recipe card. 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
These muffins are seriously THE BEST! They remind me of a cake my Grandma’s used to make when we had zucchini coming out of our ears in the garden lol!
ALSO! I tried leaving the peel on the zucchini and it still tested great! I couldn’t even tell!
Thanks so much for the recipe, Brandi!
These muffins are AMAZING! Texture is so light and fluffy and perfect way to add some veggies! Perfect amount of sweetness and chocolate flavor. LOVE!
By far this is the best zucchini muffin/bread recipe I have made. EVER. I’ve made a lot of different zucchini bread recipes, many were tasteless, heavy, just plain not worth my time. I love the fact that everything is weighed. It makes vegan baking much easier! Thank you Brandi for such a wonderful recipe.
Of course I had to use carob instead of chocolate, and added Cayenne pepper!
Wow, that is such high praise Rosebud!!! Yay!! So happy this was the best zucchini baked recipe you’ve ever had, thanks so much for sharing!! Glad you love the weighing too, I honestly, cannot imagine baking without weighing since I’ve done it so many years now, lol!
Oh My Stars these are good!!! ⭐️ I honestly wasn’t sure about blending up zucchini with water and then turning it into muffins, but WOW!! These are so light, fluffy and decadently chocolate that I will be dreaming of these in my sleep! Seriously, Brandi, these are nothing short of brilliant! I love the way you didn’t make the batter too sweet and allowed the cocoa (I used raw cacao powder) and the glorious chips to shine. By using mini chips in the body of the muffins and dark chocolate regular-sized chips on top, they remained incredibly fluffy.
The neighbor keeps sharing her zucchini and I keep sharing recipes I make with them. It’s exciting to see their non-vegan family enjoying so many of your recipes! Thank you, thank you, Brandi! 💗
Woohoo, so thrilled to hear how much you loved these Colleen! My goodness, they look absolutely perfect on IG! And what an awesome neighbor you have!!
Hi, could this possibly be made as a cake instead of muffins? Would this affect baking temperature and time at all? thanks!
Hi Nicole! A lot of times, cakes do not work out well from a cupcake/muffin recipe. This is because such a larger size is in play. I do not think this would work well as a cake and would be quite crumbly. The muffins are soft, moist and tender but I do not think they’d transfer well or hold up structurally as a cake. Cakes really need to be tested specifically as cakes, especially with vegan/gluten-free baking.
I have made these a lot, and this time I doubled the recipe and made two loaves. I bought the scale she recommended, and it was easy to mix.
I used wax paper in each loaf pan and baked at 350 for 55 min. Yum!
That’s wonderful to hear Rose!!
These muffins are amazing! I love that they are not only gluten-free but contain healthy maple syrup instead of sugar and no oil and yet still taste really good. My kind of recipe, thanks : )
Thank you so much Christine!
Love this recipe and I’ve made it several times. My kids adore them as cupcake substitutes at birthday parties. Do you know if they are as good when made in advance and frozen?
I’m so glad you love these! I’ve never tried freezing them, so I’m really not sure! I do know my other chocolate cupcakes freeze well, so these might too, I’m just not positive. I’d try freezing a couple and see.
I’ve lost track of how many dozens of these muffins I have made now. My daughter asks for them by name. They are so moist and the perfect amount of sweetness. I leave out the additional chocolate chips for my daughter and husband, but will put chip in for me. These are so perfect! Easy to make! And quick too!! Hardest part is waiting for them to cool. Great work Brandi! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
This is so awesome to hear Shelley! So glad you all love them!
SEW my carob zucchini bread turned out beautiful and delicious! I always use carob powder and chips instead of chocolate. The bread took 45 mins, about normal for baked bread God’s.
Brandi, this was very good. My hubby and I are not used to sweet anything anymore since we cut out most sugars out. I may need to cut back on the maple syrup next time.
Thanks for another great recipe! If I could upload a picture of my Bread, I would.
RB
So glad you loved these Rosebud! Yes, since carob is much sweeter while cocoa powder is bitter, then the muffins will definitely be on the sweet side if you used the same maple syrup amount. It is needed to offset the cocoa powder. Since you use carob, try reducing the syrup next time and sub with milk.