These healthy chocolate muffins are naturally sweetened, have added butternut squash for an extra healthy punch of goodness, are gluten free, dairy-free and are so delicious! Plus, they super easy to make and kid-approved!
A good muffin recipe is young daughter’s love language. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, the middle of the night…..my girl loves her muffins and I love how much goodness I can shove into her favorite food.
With school back in season, I have been dreaming up all the easy nut-free options that I can throw into her lunch box that are not only delicious and sure to be gobbled up, but that are also nutrient dense….which means veggies, protein and healthy fats.
Many of you know and love my nut butter based baked goods like…..
- Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread
- Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Muffins
- Almond Butter Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
- Flourless Chocolate Protein Donuts (with hidden veggies!)
…but many of you have also said that you desperately need easy peasy nut-free options to feed to your kiddos! Which is why Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with butternut squash) happen to be nut-free
Fun Fact: Did you know that when you combine sunflower seed butter (the base for this recipe) with baking soda, it turns GREEN when baked.
This is because sunflower seeds contain chlorophyll (or chlorogenic acid). This acid reacts with the baking powder/soda in a recipe when heated. And everything might look all fine and dandy straight from the oven, but once the baked good cools, it also turns green!
A fun little thing to do for St. Patrick’s Day, but it often weirds people out to have an unexpectedly green baked good! Hence why I added cacao/cocoa powder to this recipe. It hides the strange green color and chocolate makes everything more appealing…for kids and adults.
And because I view every food offering as an opportunity to eat a veggie, butternut squash also made it into the mix!
Healthy benefits of butternut squash
It is almost fall, after all, and those beautiful butternut squashes are popping up everywhere!
Butternut squash is not only lovely to look at, but they are loaded with vitamin C, vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B-6, manganese and more potassium than a banana. With all that goodness, why wouldn’t I throw it into a sweet little muffin recipe that I know my girl will be going for first at lunch time?
Suggested adaptations when making healthy chocolate muffins
- Not butternut squash? Pumpkin or sweet potato will work just fine too! I find butternut squash, sweet potato and pumpkin to be very interchangeable in many recipes!
- Green doesn’t scare you? Leave the cacao/cocoa powder out! I personally love chocolate, but also know it is not everyone’s jam. If the chemical reaction between the sunflower seed butter and the baking soda resulting in a green muffin (that tastes just fine) doesn’t bother you, feel free to leave the chocolate out of this recipe all together!
- Chocolate chips are totally optional! Chocolate chips are a great way to adjust the sweetness/sugar level of these muffins to your personal tastes and needs. These muffins were sweet enough on their own for my family, so I just topped them with a few chocolate chips for fun and to make them more visually appealing. Feel free to omit them entirely for a lower sugar option or add as many as you like for a special treat that also has a punch of veggies!
Other butternut squash recipes you are going to love…..
- How to cook butternut squash (6 ways!)
- Slow Cooker Chicken & Butternut Squash Stew
- Slow Cooker + Instant Pot Butternut Squash Chicken Curry
This post contains affiliate links, though all opinions are my own. When you purchase anything using my links, it costs you absolutely nothing extra, but it does kicks The Natural Nurturer a little financial love to keep doing what we do. Thank you for your continued support, both with your dollars and your interest
Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with butternut squash)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup cacao powder or cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup no-sugar added sunflower seed butter if nut-free isn't important, you can sub natural smooth peanut butter or almond butter
- 3/4 cup butternut squash puree
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips* or to taste and optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a 12-hole muffin tin.
- Combine all ingredients (expect chocolate chips, if using) in a large bowl. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Add chocolate chips (if using) and stir to mix them in.
- Using a spoon or small measuring cup, portion out the batter between the 12 lined muffin tin holes. Top with more chocolate chips, if desired
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean
- Let cool for 20 minutes and enjoyLet cool for 20 minutes and enjoy
- Let cool complete before storing in an air-tight container in your fridge or freezer
Could natural peanut butter be substituted for the sunflower butter if I’m not worried about being nut free? Nothing against sunflower butter, but if I can sub then I have all needed ingredients on hand! 🙂
Never used butternut squash…so how do you make a puree?
You can buy it at the store or just roast a butternut squash and puree up the flesh in the blender!
These are healthy and yummy! I didn’t have any buttenut squash but I had a cooked sweet potato and a half of a banana and I mashed them together. They came out really good!
Such a great sub! yum!
We have to avoid eggs. What would be a good substitute for the 3 eggs? Flax eggs?
I’ve tried this kind of recipe with various egg replacements but I haven’t had success with any yet.
Such a brilliant idea to use butternut squash in muffins! I love all the amazing ways you hide veggies in desserts.
The more veggies, the better in my book! 😉
So fun! My girls have been asking for something with chocolate the last couple weeks – I’ll have to indulge them with these!
I hope they enjoy!
Such an awesome way to use butternut squash! I love the shiny crackly tops on these muffins – so yummy!
Thank you!
I love butternut squash but have never used it in muffins. YUM! Your muffins are beautiful!!
Thank you!
I love when all the butternut comes out of my garden…and what a beautiful way to use some puree!! These looks so decadent!
Thank you!
Love how simple and delicious this recipe is. How wonderful!
I am such a sucker for a recipe with some hidden veggies in it. The texture in these looks outta this world. Totally trying these as soon as I can!
These look like gorgeous muffins, perfect for nut free schools! I have to say I’d love to dunk my finger in the raw batter as it looks amazing! xxD
Do you think these could be made with nut butter instead? I’d rather not have to buy sunflower butter since we don’t have to worry about being nut free! Can’t wait to try these.
Yes! I make it with creamy almond butter often! Peanut butter would also work. Whichever you prefer!
I’ve made them with nut butter everytime works perfectly
I followed the instructions and combined all of the ingredients in a large bowl but I ended up with a super duper lumpy batter. The lumps were actually the cacao powder that just wouldn’t breakdown with the hand mixer or with a spoon. What do you think went wrong?
I have these in the oven now and used some leftover pumpkin. Using duck eggs since chicken eggs and I don’t get along. Batter tastes fab! Can’t wait for them to be ready.
I have literally made these 10 times in the last month I love them and so does my fiancé!
Love this!! I have a baby and 4 year old who doesn’t like chocolate (weird, I know) so I left out the cocoa and subbed blueberries. I made 8 of them that way and then added cocoa powder to four of them for myself!!! They smell AMAZING and the texture is super awesome from the looks of it. Thank you for another amazing recipe!!!!
Yay! I’m so glad it was a hit!
These are so yummy! My family was hooked on Eggo waffles in the morning (we all have to be out of the house by 7:20 AM every morning, so convenience is key!), but I was dissatisfied with the empty carbs they were eating daily. Now I make a batch of these on Sundays and I feel like everyone is getting a much healthier start to their day!
I LOVE this! So awesome!
Could you use almond butter in this? Also, don’t muffins usually have flour? Does the cocoa powder substitute for that?
We need to be nut and seed free. Any non seed and nut butter substitutions you could suggest? Thank you!
Oh that is a tricky one. I honestly can’t think of one that would work with this recipe. However, you might be able to add cocoa powder to this recipe and sub the sweet potato for butternut squash. I haven’t tried it, but it might work.
https://thenaturalnurturer.com/2016/11/17/grain-free-sweet-potato-muffins/
I don’t think I was clear-sorry! We are good with all vegetables- just can’t use but or sunflower seed butters. Just wondering if there was a healthy substitute for the sunflower butter besides almond butter. Thank you for the great recipes!
Not only do these taste amazing, they look as pretty as they do in the pictures! Definitely not a muffin that kids would detect a veggie in! I used puréed pumpkin simply because I’m lazy 🤗. Will make again!
Love it! I switch out the veggie in these as well!
These are out-of-this world good! My daughter asked to have them for her birthday cupcakes
Would this recipe work without the maple syrup? Or does it need added sweetness?
Thank you
I know some people make it without and like it, but I think you have to be okay with it not really being sweet. If you are used to or prefer a sweet muffin, I would keep it in or use another sweetener.