Wholesome Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins
These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins are so easy to throw together, bake up in 20 minutes, and are beyond delicious. Made from blended oats, naturally sweetened with applesauce + a little maple syrup, rocking a cup of grated zucchini, and studded with chocolate chips, these healthy muffins make for the perfect on-the-go breakfast and tasty 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 Oatmeal Muffins.
These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins are super easy and super fast to make! Made extra hearty with oats, these muffins are naturally sweetened with applesauce 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.
Love these muffins? Be sure to check out our One-Bowl Healthy Oatmeal Carrot Muffins next!
How to make these muffins: step-by-step visual
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 Oatmeal 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 oatmeal muffins come out perfectly moist instead of mushy. Be sure to measure your loosely packed zucchini prior to squeezing out the moisture.
- Bake them until they have an internal temperature of 200℉. Every oven bakes a little different and often cooks higher or lower than you might realize. You can use a kitchen thermometer to make sure your muffins are baked through without over baking.
- Let your muffins cool for 15 minutes before enjoying. Baked goods firm up as they cool and will release muffin tin liners easier.
Other veggie-loaded muffin recipes you’ll love…
- Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with veggies!)
- One-Bowl Oatmeal Carrot Muffins
- 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 oatmeal muffins and now you’re hungry for more?
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Wholesome Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated zucchini, loosely packed, (squeeze out moisture after measuring)
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce, you can sub very ripe banana
- ¼ cup milk of choice
- ⅓ cup maple syrup, or honey*
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup avocado oil, or melted coconut oil
- ½ Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats, if gluten free is important, make sure the oats are certified gluten free
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips , +extra for topping
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with liners.
- Take the measured, loosely packed 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.
- Place drained zucchini in a medium bowl. Add applesauce, milk, maple syrup, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Set aside
- Pour oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into your blender. Pulse until very finely ground and the oats resemble a fine flour. I find running my blender for 10-15 seconds, stopping and shaking my blender a bit and running it again helps to ensure that the oats are evenly pulverized.
- Once oat mixture is finely ground, pour it into the bowl with the zucchini and wet ingredients. Stir with a spatula to combine into a batter.
- Add chocolate chips to the batter and fold 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 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comesout clean.TIP: If you have a food thermometer, bake until the muffins have aninternal temperature of 200℉. This will ensure your muffins are baked throughbut not over baked
- Let your muffins cool for 15 minutes before enjoying. Baked goods firm up as they cool and will release muffin tin liners easier.If saving for later, 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.
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!
Can I substitute with whole wheat flour? Would the ratio be the same? Thank you!
I haven’t tested this particular recipe with whole wheat flour but this recipe sounds like the vibe you are looking for. https://thenaturalnurturer.com/cinnamon-zucchini-banana-muffins-nut-free-vegan-option-dairy-free-option/
I substituted yesterday with 2 1/4 cups of WWF and they came out pretty good! Still moist but felt a little dense.
Next time I think just 2 cups would be perfect!
Thanks for sharing your experiment! I’m sure others will benefit!
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.
These were so good, Taesha!! We devoured them.
I’m so happy to hear that, Taylor! We love these muffins so much (especially in the summer when the zucchini is bountiful). I deeply appreciate you taking the time to share!
Delicious! And, a great way to use the zucchini from our CSA.
So glad you enjoyed them, Amy!
So tasty and healthy, easy to freeze to make a double batch and they thaw well too.
So happy to hear you enjoy these so much, Kate! I agree, such a great freezer recipe!