More Than Meets the Eye: Chocolate Muffins
This recipe has
a secret: it's full of a mysterious green vegetable, but people
never even notice since they're too busy stuffing their faces full of
chocolatey goodness. Make these in the summer, when you can't
swing a cat without hitting a zucchini. They are truly delicious!
1.5 cups of sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup of butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup of vegetable oil (extra credit for using coconut*, walnut, almond or peanut oil)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup of full fat yogurt or buttermilk
2 cups young zucchini, grated or finely chopped
1 cup dark chocolate chips
2 cups finely ground whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup sifted cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
Preheat your oven to 350, and line your muffin tins with paper or
lightly grease them. Also, you can make this as a quickbread by
greasing a standard loaf pan.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the sucanat, melted butter and your oil
of choice. Pour in the eggs, and mix everything together well.
Stir in your vanilla, yogurt or buttermilk, zucchini and
chocolate chips.
In another bowl, stir together the remaining dry ingredients. Add
your liquid ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until
combined (no need to overdo it, though).
Spoon the batter into your muffin tin or pan and place in the center of
the oven. Bake smaller muffins for about 20 minutes, large
muffins for 35, and a loaf for about an hour. Test for doneness
by lightly pressing the muffin/loaf's surface with your clean finger--
when it springs back up quickly and the sides are pulling away from the
pan a bit, it's probably ready!
Try your best to let these cool before eating!
*if you're using coconut oil, try adding about a teaspoon of lime zest. It adds a nice tropical touch!