Chocolate Chip Banana Zucchini Muffins

Healthy bite-sized Chocolate Chip Banana Zucchini Muffins that are moist and delicious with hidden veggies and naturally sweetened with banana and honey!

You guys.  There is A LOT going on with these little bite-sized muffins.  First of all they taste like banana bread, I mean GOOD banana bread, which is really the only reason you need to drop everything and make these.  They’re also gluten-free, loaded with zucchini (and chocolate…because BALANCE), and made healthier with whole grain oats, applesauce and zero refined sugar!  My toddler absolutely loves these little poppable muffins and they are the perfect size for her little hands.

We actually had a ton of zucchinis that I didn’t want to go to waste so aside from throwing them in a stir fry or baking them in the oven, I figured I’d whip us up these muffins!  I was in the mood to make mini muffins since I was sharing them with my two year old, but you can easily make regular size muffins using this recipe as well.  I’ll share both ways to make them down below!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Oat flour + oats – you’ll want to use a combination of rolled oats and oat flour (which is just blended up rolled oats).  Making your own flour is super simple and you can find out below how to do it yourself!
• Baking soda – this acts as a leavening agent to help these muffins rise
• Zucchini – adds nutritional benefits and makes these muffins nice and moist, just make sure to really squeeze out the water from the zucchini after grating
• Banana – makes these muffins moist and adds additional sweetness
• Applesauce – just a little bit of applesauce in these muffins helps to reduce the amount of oil we need to use.  I did test this recipe using only applesauce without coconut oil, and these just taste better with the combination of both
• Honey – makes these muffins nice and sweet without using any refined sugar, you could also use maple syrup (or other sweetener) if vegan
• Eggs – gives these muffins their structure and height
• Coconut oil – for additional moisture and fluffiness!  Feel free to sub with another type of oil if you prefer or even butter
• Vanilla extract – muffins ALWAYS taste better with vanilla!
• Cinnamon – I used about a teaspoon of cinnamon because I love
• Mix-Ins – I added mini dark chocolate chips to these muffins, but you could also mix-in chopped nuts, blueberries, or keep these dairy-free with dairy-free chocolate chips

How to Make Banana Zucchini Muffins

This particular recipe makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular size muffins.  You will make the batter the exact same way, you’ll just need adjust the cooking time for larger muffins.  Here’s how to make them!

1. Mix dry ingredients.  In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, then set aside.  See my notes below on how to make your own oat flour!  Super simple and way cheaper than store-bought oat flour.
2. Mix wet ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together grated zucchini, mashed banana, applesauce, honey, eggs and vanilla until all combined.  Then mix in the coconut oil, just make sure you melt the coconut oil first and let it cool before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Make the batter.  Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter.  Fold in the mini dark chocolate chips and divide the batter evenly between 24 mini muffin cups sprayed with non-stick spray (or use liners) making sure to fill each cup almost all the way full.  You could also make 12 regular size muffins.
4. BAKE!  Bake the mini muffins at 350 degrees F for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean then let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.  If baking regular size muffins, bake at 350 for 23 to 25 minutes.

How to Make Your Own Oat Flour

To make your own oat flour, you simply take old fashioned rolled oats (or instant oats) and blend them in your food processor or blender for about 60 seconds until they resemble a fine, powdery flour – and that’s it!  You can of course just buy your own oat flour at the store, but this method saves you money and the flour will last up to three months in your pantry.  The ratio for oat flour is one cup of oats = one cup of oat flour so it’s pretty easy to measure out.

Prepping and Storing

To Store: You can keep these muffins stored in a container at room temp for up to a day, but make sure to refrigerate after that to keep them longer.  These muffins will last up to a week in the fridge in a sealed container.

To Freeze: These muffins freeze really well too!  You can either wrap the muffins individually or store them all together in freezer-safe bags.  When ready to eat, just pop them in the microwave for 3o to 40 seconds or simply thaw out at room temperature.  These will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months!

More Healthy Muffin Recipes

• Lemon Blueberry Blender Muffins
• Strawberry Jam Filled Oat Muffins
• Banana Breakfast Muffins
• Banana Nut Bran Muffins
• Chia Seed Quinoa Muffins

Hope you all enjoy these Chocolate Chip Banana Zucchini Muffins and if you love this recipe as much as we do, please leave me a five-star rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!

RECIPE

Chocolate Chip Banana Zucchini Muffins

Healthy bite-sized Chocolate Chip Banana Zucchini Muffins that are moist and delicious with hidden veggies and naturally sweetened with banana and honey!

Yield: 12 Servings 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup grated zucchini, water squeezed out
• 1 banana, mashed
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips (I used these)

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together oat flour, rolled oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, zucchini, banana, applesauce, coconut oil, honey and vanilla until all combined.  Add wet ingredients into flour mixture and mix with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips and divide batter evenly between 24 mini muffin cups sprayed with non-stick spray (or you can use liners) making sure to fill each cup almost all the way full.  You could also make 12 regular size muffins.
5. Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, then let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.  If baking regular size muffins, bake them at 350 for 23 to 25 minutes.

Nutrition Facts:

• Serving Size: 2 mini muffins
• Calories: 172
• Sugar: 9.8 g
• Sodium: 141 mg
• Fat: 7.2 g
• Saturated Fat: 4.4 g
• Carbohydrates: 23.2 g
• Fiber: 2.3 g
• Protein: 4.6 g

* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.