Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins — These one-bowl, no-mixer banana zucchini chocolate chip muffins are light, fluffy, and studded with chocolate chips! No butter, no eggs, and they’re made with coconut oil instead of butter.
Table of Contents
Banana Zucchini Muffins … with Chocolate Chips!
If you’ve never baked with zucchini, you’ve been missing out. Everything stays so soft and moist. All thanks to a plant that you can’t taste!
These chocolate chip banana zucchini muffins taste like banana bread. Perfect for all you sneaky chefs!
The one-bowl, no-mixer zucchini chocolate chip muffins are accidentally vegan and on the healthier side. No butter, no eggs, the chocolate chips are solely sprinkled on top, and they’re made with coconut oil.
You’ll never complain about eating your vegetables after these muffins. Or hear anyone else complaining.
Want to Make Zucchini Bread Instead?
If you love these chocolate chip zucchini muffins, make my classic zucchini bread next!
Ingredients in Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
To make these banana zucchini chocolate chip muffins, you’ll need:
- Granulated sugar
- Coconut oil
- Light brown sugar
- Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Mashed bananas
- Shredded zucchini
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
These muffins are a mashup of classic banana and zucchini muffins — if you’ve made either before, then you can definitely handle this simple recipe!
Here’s a look at how the muffins are made:
- Stir together the sugars, melted coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla, and almond milk.
- Then, stir in the mashed banana and shredded zucchini.
- Add the dry ingredients, then divide the batter between 11 greased muffin cups.
- These banana zucchini chocolate chip muffins need to bake until set, domed, golden, and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
Tips for Making Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Coconut oil: I used coconut oil rather than butter because oil keeps things softer, springier, and moister long-term. It adds a nearly imperceptible undertone that’s sweeter and more fragrant than canola or vegetable oil, but substitute with them if you’d like.
Measuring zucchini: Before adding the zucchini to the muffin batter, put it in a paper towel and squeeze tightly for about 10 seconds to remove some moisture. You should wind up with about 3/4 cup compacted shredded zucchini.
Bake time: Depending on how moist your shredded zucchini and mashed banana are, your muffins may need to bake for more or less time than the recipe calls for. Watch the oven, not the clock when making these banana zucchini chocolate chip muffins.
Recipe FAQs
I’m sure you could! You’d likely wind up being able to bake 12 muffins that way rather than 11. You could add chocolate chips to the batter, chopped nuts, or dried fruit.
No, it’s not necessary to peel the zucchini before shredding and using in the muffin batter. The skin is very soft and you can’t taste it whatsoever!
Nope! You can’t taste it and the only thing that gives it away are the faint green flecks. If you peeled the zucchini, you’d never know it was there. Even though they could see it, my family said they couldn’t taste it, nor could I.
For sure! They continue to get softer as the days pass, and the flavors marry together and tasted better the second day, in my opinion.
These chocolate chip banana zucchini muffins will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. I find the muffins get softer over time and taste better on days 2-3 after the flavors have married.
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Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted (vegetable or canola oil may be substituted)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk, coconut, soy, rice, cow’s milk may be substituted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup ripe mashed bananas, about 2 small/medium bananas
- 1 ¼ cups shredded zucchini, measured loosely laid in cup (not packed in or squeezed; about 1 medium zucchini, I didn’t peel it)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- about 11 teaspoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips divided, about 1 teaspoon for each muffin (regular-sized chips may be substituted)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan very well with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pan; set aside. (I don’t prefer the cosmetic look of muffin liners and I am not sure if the paper will stick to the muffins).
- To a large bowl, add the first 6 ingredients, through cinnamon, and whisk to combine.
- Add the bananas and whisk to combine.
- Before adding the zucchini, put it in a paper towel and squeeze tightly for about 10 seconds to remove some moisture. After squeezing, you should have about 3/4 cup of compacted shreds.
- Add zucchini to bowl and stir to incorporate.
- Add the flour, baking powder, optional salt and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or spoon, turn batter out into prepared pan, noting that the recipe yields 11 muffins. If I try to make 12 given my muffin pan, the muffins are too skimpy but pans vary. Each cavity should be filled to about 3/4 full, but not exceeding or batter could overflow.
- Sprinkle the top of each muffin generously with mini chocolate chips, about 1 teaspoon each.
- Bake at 400F for 10 minutes, reduce oven temp to 350F and bake for 8 minutes, or until muffins are set, domed, golden, and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until they’ve firmed up and are cool enough to handle. It’s normal for muffin tops to be flatten as they cool.
Notes
- Muffins will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. I find the muffins get softer over time and taste better on days 2-3 after the flavors have married.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Muffin Recipes:
Peanut Butter Banana Muffins — Loaded with rich peanut butter and banana flavor and studded with chocolate in every bite!! This FAST and EASY muffin recipe is one bowl, no mixer, and perfect for those ripe bananas you have!!
Chocolate Banana Muffins — These chocolate banana muffins are moist and soft in the middle, with a slight chewiness around the edges of the muffin top. The best breakfast treat EVER!
Vegan Coconut Oil Banana Muffins — These vegan banana muffins are extra fluffy and moist thanks to the combination of coconut oil and ripe bananas in the batter. This is a quick and easy muffin recipe you’re bound to love!
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Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins — Banana muffins that could pass for dessert, that are studded with chocolate chips, and that are topped with streusel make me very happy to eat ‘breakfast’.
I just made these and blogged about it last night! (https://burn-bright.com/2014/09/01/banana-zucchini-chocolate-chip-muffins/)
They are ooey gooey and delicious! I was wondering – Do you think adding oatmeal to this recipe would be too much? Or almond flour? Or halving the sugar that’s called for? I want to see if I can kick up the nutrition factor even more for the next batch I make (because there definitely will be another batch).
Thanks! :)
Vanessa
Sugar, that’s personal preference and the riper the banana, the more natural sugar/sweetness it will have.
I think you’d be better off doing a handful of oats than using almond flour (it’s made from nuts and so dense and heavy and these muffins with the banana/zuke are already dense enough).
These look amazing! This would be my first time baking with zucchini, so I was just wondering if you cook the zucchini first and how you shred it — Food processor or just with a fork? I am the queen of Pinterest fails, so I figured I’d suck it up and ask the dumb question! :) thanks in advance!
You don’t cook it first and it’s not necessary to dirty a food proc and actually you don’t get as good of results as with an old-fashioned grater like you’d use to grate cheese. You can zip through a zucchini in 30 seconds. They shred very easily & quickly! Enjoy!
Hi, I’m just wondering how many calories are in each zucchini banana chocolate chip muffin?! Look great! Thank you!
I haven’t calculated but feel free to plug the data into an online site that does that sort of thing.
Made these last night, just had one for breakfast..perfect!
So glad they were perfect for you!
SO good! Thanks for the delicious recipe. Also love making your oatmeal raisin cookies!!
Glad you loved these as well as the oatmeal raisin cookies :)
These are gorgeous Averie and of course, I LOVE that they are vegan!!! Zucchini is my favorite alltime veggie. I have only used it once in dessert, I created a raw, no-bake “Nutella” Zucchini Cream Pie Bars and absolutely none of my taste testers had a clue there was zucchini in them….I love fooling people, hahaa! :)
I love playing sneaky chef, too :) I mean it’s amazing I even ASKED my family, do you detect zucchini and they said no. The only thing obvi are the green flecks, but if you eat with your eyes closed (And I made them for taste-testing purposes) they all said no!
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just konning!!!!!
I love sneaking veggies in where I can! ;) Love these delicious little muffins!
I made one loaf and one mini loaf. No substitutions but I did add an extra banana (that was beyond ready to go) and no chocolate chips (didn’t have any otherwise definitely would have) and I think I would cut the sugar down a little next time. Super moist and delicious!
Super ripe bananas are usually very sweet comparatively so that’s probably why it was on the sweeter side – you used an extra banana, and a super ripe one at that. Glad you loved it and I totally agree that one loaf + one mini loaf is EASIER! If I wasn’t blogging about it, I’d have just made loaves but people tend to want muffin recipes :)
Yum! These pictures make these muffins pop! Love the healthy alternative here. Haha
julieblanner.com
Thanks for all the comments today, Julie!
Made these yesterday and kids enjoyed the. My kids love zucchini and are not fond of banana, so I just said they were zucchini muffins. Go figure. I put chips throughout and reduced sugar by 1/4 cup and forgot oil accidentally! Love your suite tots, too.
Glad that the kids enjoyed them, without oil and without mention of banana. Sounds like it all worked out :) Thanks for making these!
I love baking with zucchini and these muffins are just perfection Averie! Pinned!
These look great! Moist muffins are a total must. And they are so healthy too?! I also had zucchini to my pancakes sometimes – they are such a great ‘filler-outer’ and they are great leave so much more room for decadent toppings/dressings. I think I would double the chocolate chips though hehe.
By the way, how come all of these weird pop up windows come up on your site?! They are those suspicious kind flashing ads that don’t go away! (or advertise anything in particular?!)
I can’t wait to try these…
Oh wow I am sorry to hear you are seeing pop-ups, that’s not supposed to happen! I will bring it to the attention of my ad networks and hopefully get that taken care of asap!
These are soo good, Averie! I subbed the coconut oil with applesauce and they’re still extremely moist and flavorful. I do find them a bit too sweet personally, but I’m not surprised because I usually have to reduce the sugar in recipes. I didn’t this time since I already subbed the applesauce and didn’t want to go messing around with the recipe too much. I’ll definitely be making them again though and experiment with reducing the sugar. Thanks for the recipe :) Oh, I also topped them with fresh blueberries instead of chocolate chips. Mmmm…
Glad you enjoyed them and were able to get away with applesauce rather than oil and they still worked. That could have been what made them taste sweeter because applesauce is sweeter than coconut oil (which isn’t sweet at all) so that could have been it. Or you had a riper banana than mine and it was sweeter but reduce the sugar if you think that would be better. Glad you loved them!
Excellent, I love the flavor combinations you chose.
Dessertized vegetables are The best vegetables. Forks down. These muffins look fabulous!!