These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are silly easy to make in your blender and beyond delicious. Loaded with veggies and leveled up with chocolate chips, they are made with oatmeal, naturally sweetened, and are perfect for a feel-good breakfast or snack.

If there is one thing I know about you guys, it is that you *love* a good veggie-loaded muffin recipe from your girl here. My Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins send many of you (especially those of you with kiddos protesting all thing green) into giddy tale spin. And I have joked with my husband that one day, my tombstone will read “Here lies Taesha. Wife, Mother, Friend, and Green Smoothie Muffin Maker.”
All joking aside, a good veggie-loaded, healthy muffin recipe can be a total game changer for someone. Why? Because muffins are easy to make, are perfectly portioned out and are kind of the best thing ever for breakfasts or easy snacks. And the fact that they can be a vessel for getting more veggies into your life and body is just frosting on the muffin!
And now I am adding a new veggie-loaded muffin recipe to the mix with these *amazing* Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins.
These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are mixed up in minutes in your handy dandy blender. Super easy, super fast! Made extra hearty with oats, these muffins are naturally sweetened with applesauce or bananas and honey or maple syrup. Making a nice big batch of 12 muffins, they are perfect for adding to your meal prep line-up so that breakfasts and snacks are grab-and-go. And they freeze like a dream! Naturally nut-free and gluten free when you use certified gluten free oats, these muffins can also easily be made dairy-free with your favorite plant based milk.
How can I substitute applesauce in baking, like in these muffins?
Applesauce offers a lot to a baking recipe, such as natural sweetness and moisture. When swapping out applesauce in baking, my first go-to is mashed banana. I find that I can swap them out one-for-one in a sweet baking recipe with consistent success. And I often do it when making these Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins!
How should I store these zucchini muffins?
Like with any baked good, be sure to let these muffins cool on your counter completely before storing.
After they are cool, transfer the muffins to an air-tight container. You can leave them at room temperature for up to 2 days. After that, I suggest storing them in the fridge or freezer to prevent molding and to keep them as fresh as possible for days to come. They also freeze beautifully and make for a great breakfast or snack to stock up on!
Suggested Adaptations
- Make them with carrot instead of zucchini. No zucchini in the garden or fridge? Just swap it out for shredded carrot…or even summer squash!
- Use summer squash instead of zucchini. Many people don’t know you can swap zucchini and yellow summer squash in most recipes!
- Reduce the sugar and skip the chocolate chips. Everyone prefers a different level of sweetness. If you are looking to minimize the sugar in these zucchini muffins, simply omit the chocolate chips.
- Replace the chocolate chips with raisins. It is all a matter of preference.
- Replace the applesauce with 2 medium ripe mashed bananas. No applesauce on hand or just love bananas? Go ahead and make the switch!
Tips and tricks
- Let them cool completely. If you want to dive right in and enjoy a Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffin warm (because that is kinda the best thing ever), go for it. But don’t freak out if they stick to the papers a little or are slightly soft in the middle. Both are normal and as the muffins cool, both issues will resolve.
- Blend the oats into oat flour first. If you are not using a high-speed blender like a Vitamix, consider blending the oats into a flour first. Why? Because this will help you to break down the oats easier and give your muffins a better texture.
- Don’t skip on squeezing out the zucchini. Zucchini naturally has a lot of water. Squeezing out some of the zucchini’s natural moisture is essential so that these muffins come out perfectly moist instead of mushy.
- If making these for a child under 1, use maple syrup instead of honey. I remember hearing that recommendation since my daughter was a baby, but never knew why exactly. The reason is because something called Clostridium bacteria can be present in honey and is no good for those developing little infant guts. It is usually not an issue for children over age 1 thought. Check out this article for more info.
Other veggie-loaded muffin recipes you’ll love…
- Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with veggies!)
- Healthy Zucchini Lemon Muffins
- Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins
- Cinnamon Zucchini Banana Muffins
- Savory Vegetable Muffins
- Butternut Squash Banana Blender Muffins
- Mini Butternut Squash Blueberry Muffins
Did you try these zucchini muffins and now you’re hungry for more?
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats if gluten free is important, make sure the oats are certified gluten free
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce sub very ripe banana
- ¼ cup milk of choice
- ⅓ cup honey* or maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup avocado oil or melted coconut oil
- ½ Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup high quality chocolate chips +extra for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with liners.
- Take the grated zucchini and place it in the middle of a clean dish towel or large paper towel. Wrap the zucchini in the towel and squeeze out as much of the moisture as you can. Set aside.
- Pour oats into your blender. Pulse until very finely ground and the oats resemble flour.
- Add remaining ingredients except zucchini and chocolate chips to the blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and continuing to blend as needed.
- Add drained zucchini and chocolate chips to the batter. Fold them in. You can pour the batter into a bowl before adding chocolate chips and zucchini if you want. However, I try to make as few dishes as possible, so I just pour them into the blender with the batter and stir them in.
- Portion the batter out between the 12 lined muffin tin holes. Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top of the muffins if desired.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Cool for 15-20 minutes before enjoying. Allow the muffins to cool completely before transferring to an air-tight container. Store in fridge for 4-5 days or in freezer for up to a month.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!
Comments
Wonderful! We make these weekly and they get devoured by the whole family. I do use cow milk instead but that’s my only substitution!
Yay!
These are absolutely delicious!!! Awesome recipe! I added raisins and chocolate chips to satisfy all the taste buds in my house and they loved them!! Page is definitely bookmarked for future use – thanks!!
Yay! I am so glad y’all enjoyed them!
Any idea on baking time for mini muffins ?
I would say about 10ish minutes
Can you do half oat flour half coconut flour? Or just coconut flour? Also, are quick oats ok to use?
Unfortunately no. Coconut flour behaves very differently then oat flour does in a recipe
Light and fluffy pumpkin zucchini muffins made with gluten-free flours, zucchini and pumpkin! A healthy gluten-free muffin and great way to get veggies in the morning!
Just made these using a 24-count mini muffin tin (10 min bake time) and whole cow’s milk – and they are delicious! Was wanting something different to feed my 2 year old for breakfast, but my husband and I are currently devouring them one by one – ha! Hope there’ll be some left for the little guy!
Yay! I am so glad they are a hit with the whole family!
Can you add the zucchini in the blender? I don’t know if my picky eater will like the texture…
You can. Just be sure to squeeze out the water first or the muffins will be mushy!
I have some wheat berries in the cupboard that would love to be in homemade bread. I also would like to try to make chickpea flour.
I so enjoy your site and your recipes. Would you please consider adding a print option so we can enjoy your recipes a little more easily. Thank you.
Hi Rose! There is a print option on most of my recipes! You can find it under the image in the recipe card itself
My family LOVES this recipe! I used the banana substitute and used 1 cup of zuc and 1 cup of grated carrots for one batch — it was amazing! I know these are usually for kids to help try more veggies, but I made these for my parents and they keep asking for more! They’re very picky when it comes to texture and things that taste a little too “healthy” or different, so this was a big win! I made a double batch and froze them in my dorm to keep for easy breakfasts or snacks. Thanks for the great recipe!
Can I use regular flour instead of the oats? If so, how much?
I haven’t tried in this particular recipe but I find that whole wheat flour and oat flour usually swap out pretty well! I’d say 2 1/4 cup would be my guess
This is by far my favorite muffin recipe!! I make them every week and eat them every single morning for breakfast. So delicious. I just substitute coconut oil for olive oil and no chocolate chips. I also usually end up adding a bit of extra zucchini and reduce the honey to about 1 tbsp. These are amazing thank you for the great recipe!
I love hearing that and I am so glad! They are a house favorite here too!
Really good. thank you!
This is our favorite TNN recipe, made weekly during zucchini season. It is so forgiving.
—We also tried it with carrots and with yellow summer squash.
—We’ve tried all sorts of milks.
—we’ve subbed the egg and the applesauce In different circumstances.
—We’ve used avocado oil when out of coconut (or when too lazy to warm it up). —we’ve used fresh and frozen veggies. You can grate and freeze the veggies in 1 (heaping) cup increments for easy muffin making as well (squeeze them out after they defrost.)
I’ve also been known to buzz an extra serving or two of oats into flour to store and use the next time to make without a blender when kids are asleep.
Pro tip: reduce the maple syrup to 1/4 so you only need to dirty one measuring cup.
Oh pro tips there! I love them!
These are delicious!!! I had to use cows milk and canola oil because that’s what I had, and they were wonderful!
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Jacki!
What everyone else said x 10! Hands down THE best and easiest muffin recipe ever! I reduced maple syrup to 1/4 cup following the 1/4 cup coconut oil, added raisins and walnuts reserving fewer chocolate chips for top only. Friends loved them; they’ve already requested a repeat for our next gathering! Mom of a 3 y.o. with food allergies was delighted with the ingredients and asked for the recipe. Thank you for this fabulous treat
!
I am so glad you loved them, Teresa!
I made these mini with blueberries and they are amazing!!!
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! And I love the swap!
My husband and our 1-year-old daughter (and I) could not get enough of these. So good! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed! I’m glad it was a hit with the whole family 💚
Cant wait to make these! Is there a good egg substitute you would recommend? Currently experiencing a new egg allergy. 🙁
I bet a flax eggs would work great! Are you familiar with how to make those?
These muffins came out awesome! I added 1/4 cup cocoa powder as my son wanted chocolate muffins! I added rainbow sprinkles on top too. Mini muffins baked well for about 12-13 mins. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Super fun additions! I need to try that with my next batch!
Just baked this recipe. So, so delicious!!!! Love that it’s made with maple syrup and oats. Would love a pumpkin recipe too. 😁
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! While I have many pumpkin recipes on my site, you’re right…I don’t have one similar to this. However, I do have this butternut squash muffin recipe and you could absolutely replace the squash with pumpkin puree!
https://thenaturalnurturer.com/butternut-squash-banana-blender-blender-muffins/
Tripled the recipe and came out great. Thank you.
So glad, Nancy! Thank you for taking the time to share.