These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Protein Muffins are flourless, gluten-free, oil-free, AND refined sugar-free. The perfect addition to your breakfast, or a great pre-workout snack with 10 grams of protein in each muffin!
![Chocolate Chip Zucchini Protein Muffins [Fit Mitten Kitchen]](https://www.fitmittenkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/muffins-2.jpg)
So I hope you all aren’t sick of zucchinis yet. I know I’m not. Fritters, ZOODLES, you name it! I’m all about those zucc’s right now 😉
This is the second time I’ve made these muffins, tweaked from a recipe by Aloha, which was featured during the first week of the Summer SWEAT Series. Don’t know what the Summer SWEAT Series is? Check out Ambitious Kitchen and Fit Foodie Finds… for the past five weeks they have set up both workouts AND a meal plan… FO FREE. (Bridesmaids anyone…?) If you’re looking to change up your workout routine, these workouts will definitely do it. For how often I make exercise a priority, some of these workouts have kicked my butt. (See sweaty instagram posts). They’re also giving me some great ideas on developing some more workouts… so stay tuned for that.
Is this summer just flying by or what? I mean seriously… how are we in the middle of JULY already?! Please slow down summer, please. But on that note, the middle of July typically means my much anticipated summer vacation is near… EVERY year, of my ENTIRE life, I have gone up to the Georgian Bay in Canada and gone camping with my family. I have not missed one year in my 26 years of life. There is actually quite a bit of history at this place for my mother’s side of the family, which kind of makes it even more special. I like to call myself part-Canadian because of it 😉 (I can actually sing the Canadian national anthem because I spent two summers there at an all girls camp when I was younger.)
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t sure I would make it up to the campground this summer. With all of the wedding craziness happening back a couple months ago… taking more time off from work was gonna be tough. BUT, I think we’re going to manage to pull it off. I am so fortunate to have a boss who understands the importance of family and living life outside of work. I am so so excited and so thankful, because I seriously cannot imagine NOT going up there. I’m sure it sounds crazy, and I hear all the time, “Missing one year isn’t going to kill you”. But seriously, I don’t know if I can do it! Over the many years we have developed friendships with some great people there. So much so they have become family. One of my dear friends played guitar for us at our wedding ceremony, and another was one of my bridesmaids. They all mean the world to me, and I don’t get to see them enough.
I figure, if we can bear the 11 hour drive (yikkesss), and we have the opportunity to go, why not take advantage? Life’s too short, and this place is like my second home. I NEED it in my life, kind of like I NEED chocolate. 😉 So after chatting with the husband and figuring out some logistics, it looks like this year is a GO. <3 And you know what that means? These muffins are totally coming along for the ride.
![Chocolate Chip Zucchini Protein Muffins [Fit Mitten Kitchen]](https://www.fitmittenkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Chocolate-Chip-Zucchini-Protein-Muffins.jpg)
These babies have got it going ON. One of the main reasons I tweaked the Aloha recipe was because I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand. I was running out of almond flour, and I knew I wanted to add some protein in there too. But I DID have oats, which I knew I could grind into oat flour and the results would come out fairly similar. I was super pumped about the macros after all of my ingredient switching. Macro-love right here in these muffins. <3 (Like I mentioned a little bit in my Banana Protein Bars post, I like to have a balanced set of macros in my snacks.)
These muffins are made with wholesome ingredients, like almond flour and ground gluten-free rolled oats, plus a touch of cacao powder. And obviously zucchini, lots of shredded zucchini!
These are a super great pre-workout snack, or a lovely addition to your on-the-go breakfast. I’ve been having them in the afternoon before I head to the gym, and they contain just the right amount of chocolate in them for my daily chocolate fix! (Yes, I have chocolate pretty much every day… #sorrynotsorry)
I will note that these muffins are SUPER moist, and don’t have the texture of your typical flour and oil muffins. But they are GREAT. I enjoy mine from the fridge. 🙂
![Chocolate Chip Zucchini Protein Muffins [Fit Mitten Kitchen]](https://www.fitmittenkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IMG_3265.jpg)
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Protein Muffins
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Protein Muffins are flourless, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and also made with dairy-free chocolate chips!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 14 1x
- Category: Snacks
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups Gluten-Free Old Fashion Rolled Oats1 processed into flour
- 1 1/2 cups Almond Flour2
- 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder (I usedthis)
- 1 TBScacao powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg whites, or 6 TBS liquid egg whites
- 1 medium ripe banana, mashed well
- 6 TBS coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 2 cups grated zucchini, about 2 medium
- 4 TBS mini semi-sweet chocolate chips3
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin tin with paper liners, or use a silicone muffin pan, no need to spray.
- In a small food processor, grind your oats into a flour.
- Add oat flour, almond flour, protein powder, cacao, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to a large bowl. Stir until well combined, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites together. Add in your mashed banana and coconut sugar, stir until combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to your large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until the batter has just come together.
- Slightly press some liquid out of the grated zucchini, either using your hands or soaking with a paper towel. Add the zucchini to the rest of the batter and stir until evenly distributed.
- Add in your chocolate chips.
- Evenly distribute batter among the muffin tins, filling about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until edges have lightly browned and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Mine took 18 minutes. Recipe yields 12-15 muffins (I got 14).
If using a silicone muffin pan, allow the muffins to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from pan. - Store in airtight container in fridge up to 7 days.
Notes
1 If you aren’t gluten-free, feel free to sub regular whole oats.
2 Almond flour is best here but meal can be subbed.
3 If you aren’t dairy-free, feel free to use regular baking chips.
note: The batter may seem very wet, if you didn’t press out all of your liquid from the zucchini. My batter was pretty wet, with a medium thick-ness, and my muffins turned out fine. The zucchini helps keep them super moist since there is no added oils!
Because these muffins are so moist, I recommend storing them in the fridge. They should keep 5-7 days. They can also be kept in the freezer up to 1 month.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 190
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 315mg
- Fat: 10
- Saturated Fat: 2
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 18
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 8g
- Cholesterol: 32mg
How about you all??
Do you have a family summer vacation you look forward to every year?
Any campers out there? Leave a comment below!
P.S. Because I’ll be in Canada most of next week, I will be unplugging for a bit! No service=good times. No technology=LIVING. 😉 I’ll be back the following week with another recipe to share with you all after we get back and settled!
Angela Broyles says
These are great! I added some cocoa nibs. For me they could’ve been a little sweeter- next time I will add in some stevia. Thanks for the great recipe!
Ashley says
Thanks so much for your feedback Angela! I’m glad you still enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Shannan Williams says
We can’t use nut flours because of food allergies. What kind of flour can I sub for the almond flour? I see cocnut flour is a no go.
Ashley says
Hi Shannan – You may be able to sub the almond flour with 1 cup of whole grain flour, or a 1:1 Gluten-free all-purpose blend. I haven’t tried that myself, but I feel like it *should* work out okay. Let me know if you decide to try!
Jen says
The muffins turned out great! I used out flour instead of the oats and added some walnuts instead of chocolate chips. Delicious! Thanks for posting. I have a bunch of gigantic zucchini in my garden so this was a perfect use!
Ashley says
Oh awesome! Thanks so much for your comment Jen – it means a lot!
Vanessa M. says
I’m hard-headed and made this in an 8×8 pan so I wouldn’t have to go through the trudgery of cleaning a muffin pan or having muffin liners stick to the bread. I made mine without the chocolate chips. Unfortunately, my husband (who shouldn’t be allowed near an oven) let it over-bake. Yet despite being over-baked, you could tell this recipe would have still been distinctly moist. The flavor was wonderful. The texture was firm and held up to being dipped in coffee, which I know sounds weird, but oh, man, it added even another dimension of decadence. I was VERY pleased with the recipe!
Ashley says
Vanessa, your comment made me laugh out loud (husband comment) 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and provide your feedback! I really appreciate it 🙂 And so glad you enjoyed the recipe too!
kalai perumal says
Hello from Singapore! I made these and there were fantastic. Very moist . I pressed 3 dark chocolate chips on top of each one and used 3 eggs. Really delicious and one of my favorite breakfasts on the go!
★★★★★
Random Stranger Comedy says
My son LOVES zucchini. He avoids protein and doesn’t like chocolate. He agreed to try these muffins. When they came out of the oven, I thought that they looked gross and smelled not tasty (sorry!). But wow! They are good! I loved them. He loved them. My mom has celiac disease and I am sure she will be thrilled. Strong work.
Carolyn says
This was amazing. I used Lilly’s chocolate chips and added some walnuts. So tasty and great texture.
★★★★★
Sue Hammock says
Can I use oat flour instead of grinding oats? If so, how much should I use? Thx.
Ashley says
Yes you could – I would use ⅔ cup oat flour.
Dru says
I used paper liners in the muffin tin and the muffins stick really bad. I’m probably losing about 1/4 of the muffin when I peel the paper off. I don’t normally spray paper liners, but I would if I make them again. Also I thought they might be better with a little vanilla extract.
★★★★
Ashley says
Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Shirley C says
I made this recipe but with a few tweaks to keep the calories down and the protein high and the muffins tasted absolutely delicious!
Here are the changes I made:
3/4 cup almond flour
1 cup protein powder
6 tbsp Swerve brown zero calorie sweetener
5 tbsp Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips (0 sugar)
I added 1 tsp pure vanilla extract and I also strained my zucchini really hard using a cheesecloth. I had to bake mine for 30 mins.
My batch yielded 16 muffins, and with these changes, the macros are 121 calories per muffin, 14.4g carbs, 5.3g fat and 11.2 g protein!
★★★★★
Ashley says
Thank you for sharing your subs! Glad you enjoyed it.