Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

These Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins are moist, packed with flavour and a great way to use up seasonal produce. Make them for grab-and-go breakfasts, snacks and desserts on busy days!

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Why you should make these Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’m a sucker for a summer farmers market and if you’ve also been to one lately you will have likely seen a bounty of fresh zucchini! Let’s make the most of this seasonal produce and make these Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins. 

With fresh zucchini at its peak, this recipe is a delicious and practical way to use up one of the season’s most abundant veggies. Paired with ripe bananas and creamy peanut butter, these muffins are incredibly moist and provide a source of fibre and healthy fats.

Each bite offers a nutty depth from the peanut butter, a light freshness from the zucchini and bananas and smooth richness from the chocolate chips. 

Whether you need a grab-and-go breakfast, a quick snack between meals, or a satisfying dessert, these muffins are the recipe to choose! They are also freezer-friendly, so you can bake a batch ahead of time and always have a healthy and convenient option ready when life gets busy.

Ingredients needed

Here’s what you need to make these Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins:

• Zucchini
• Eggs
• Ripe bananas
• Peanut butter
• All purpose flour
• Light brown sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Substitutions and add-ins

In case you don’t have some of the suggested ingredients, or you want to mix it up and make this recipe your own, here are some recommendations to still make these banana zucchini muffins delicious!

• Gluten free flour
  • Just swap to equal parts of Bob Red Mills 1-to-1 gluten-free flour.
• Nut or seed butter
  • If you prefer a different type of nut or seed butter, use that instead of peanut butter!
• Other types of brown sugar
  • Any kind of brown sugar will work in this recipe.
• Milk, dark or mini chocolate chips
  • Use any of these instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• Chopped nuts
  • If you prefer a chocolate-free muffin or you want some extra crunch, feel free to add chopped nuts to the batter. Walnuts, almonds or pecans would work well!

How to make Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Here’s how you make these moist and flavourful banana chocolate chip zucchini muffins:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a muffin tin with muffin liners or baking spray.
2. Grate the zucchini and place it in a cheese cloth or between pieces of paper towel and squeeze out all the excess moisture.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, ripe bananas, peanut butter and vanilla extract. Add the grated zucchini and mix together.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the all purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Distribute the batter evenly amongst the muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes before enjoying!

Baking tips

Muffins are high up on my list of favourite things to bake. After countless batches, I’ve come up with some tips and tricks to make your life easier. Here are some hopefully helpful tips to use when making these zucchini banana chocolate chip muffins:

• Squeeze the zucchini
  • Don’t forget to squeeze the water out of the zucchini. You can do this by using a cheesecloth, paper towel or a thin kitchen towel. It makes a major difference in the texture of the muffins so don’t skip this step!
• Lining the muffin tins
  • I love to use silicone muffin liners to reduce waste. They also make it super easy to remove your muffin cleanly. You can also freeze the muffins in the silicone liners!
• Transferring the batter
  • If you have an ice cream scoop, use this to distribute the muffin batter. You could also use a measuring cup to transfer the batter to the muffin baking pan! It helps make them all even, which promotes a more consistent bake.
  • If you’re making mini muffins, use a cookie scoop for an even pour and bake.
• Prolong the shelf-life of the muffins
  • I like to try to prolong the shelf life of them before freezing by keeping them in the fridge once they have cooled after baking.
• Freezing
  • If I’m making a double batch or just want to store the muffins in the freezer, I keep them in the silicone muffin liners. This helps prevent them from sticking together. Pop them in a freezer-friendly bag and toss them in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. When you’re ready to eat one, microwave it for roughly 20 seconds (depending on the strength of your microwave) and enjoy!

Storing muffins

You can store these zucchini banana muffins in a few different ways.

• Once they are fully baked and cooled, you can keep them on the counter for 2-3 days.
• They can also be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5-7 days.
• If freezing, once the muffins have baked and cooled to room temperature, transfer them to an airtight container. This could be a glass or plastic container or even a freezer bag! Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, either take them out 1-2 hours in advance or microwave them for 30 seconds, or until they reach your preferred temperature and texture. Enjoy!

Nutrition

My goal is to encourage a more joyful, intuitive relationship with food, focusing on flavor and satisfaction rather than numbers. Because of this, I don’t normally calculate the calories of my recipes. Caloric amounts can also be inaccurate due to variations in ingredients and portions. However, I do like to highlight the beneficial nutrients that my recipes provide.

This recipe makes between 10-12 muffins, depending on the size. In a batch of 12 muffins, one muffin provides roughly:

• 5 grams of protein
• 2 grams of fibre
• A source of polyunsaturated omega 6 fatty acids, vitamin C and vitamin E
• A variety of B vitamins
• A variety of minerals such as iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc and more!

Dietary considerations

These muffins are naturally vegetarian, however if you need to accommodate any other dietary restrictions or considerations, here are my suggestions:

• Gluten free: opt for 1:1 gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour.
• Lactose free: use lactose-free chocolate chips.
• Nut free: switch to a seed butter instead of peanut butter.

I hope you love these Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins! If you make this recipe, I would love to see your comment and rating below. It also makes my day seeing your creations of my recipes on Instagram- don’t forget to tag @allnutritionkitchen!