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These easy double chocolate veggie muffins are rich, so fudgy and perfectly moist. They are so insanely good that you won’t believe there’s not one, not two, but three cups of veggies in them.
Your New Favorite Way To Eat Veggies
Do you or your family have a hard time eating enough veggies? Let me introduce you to these incredible healthy chocolate muffins- perfect for picky eaters and chocolate lovers alike. Here’s why you’ll love them:
- Loaded with nutrition: Each muffin has 5 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and is packed with vitamins from veggies.
- Veggie-packed: These muffins have a full 3 cups of veggies in them from spinach, zucchini and carrots. That means each muffin has an impressive quarter cup of veggies! The best part? You cannot taste them!
- Ultra-moist and fudgey texture: These muffins have the perfect soft and moist muffin texture.
- Perfect anytime: You can enjoy these as an easy breakfast, a healthy snack or even dessert!
As a dietitian, I love finding ways to boost nutrition without making recipes feel “healthy” in a boring way—and these muffins do just that.
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- White whole wheat flour: I love using white whole wheat flour or “golden wheat” (this is my favorite) because it has all the nutrition of whole wheat with a softer texture. All purpose flour, regular whole wheat, or even half and half.
- Dutch process cocoa powder: Dutch-process cocoa powder gives these muffins their deep chocolate flavor.
- Baking powder + baking soda: Baking powder and soda work together to give these muffins the perfect rise and texture.
- Salt: Salt brings out the sweetness of these indulgent-tasting muffins.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: Chocolate chips give these double chocolate muffins even more chocolate flavor. I like using mini chocolate chips so you can get more chocolate in every bite.
Wet ingredients
- Carrots: A cup of grated carrots adds natural sweetness, moisture and a boost of beta-carotene!
- Zucchini: Grated zucchini sneaks in some extra fiber and moisture, and the flavor is easily masked by the chocolate flavor.
- Spinach: Baby spinach works great because it has a mild flavor. It’ also gives these muffins vitamin C and vitamin K blended right in.
- Greek yogurt: Plain Greek yogurt helps to keep these muffins moist and adds some protein too!
- Honey: Honey provides natural sweetness; you can also use maple syrup.
- Avocado oil: I love avocado oil for baking because of it’s neutral flavor, high smoke point and healthy fats. Any neutral oil will work as well like canola oil.
- Eggs: Eggs offer structure, protein and richness to these chocolate muffins.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla is a must to round out the flavor and sweetness.
How To Make Chocolate Veggie Muffins
1. Add wet ingredients to blender: Add grated carrots, zucchini, baby spinach, Greek yogurt, honey, oil, eggs and vanilla extract to a high-speed blender.
2. Blend: Blend wet ingredients on high until completely smooth. Scrape the sides down as needed.
3. Mix dry ingredients: Add all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt) to a large bowl except for the chocolate chips. Whisk to combine.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients: Pour wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients. Stir gently until just combined. Do not over mix.
5. Add chocolate chips: Fold in mini chocolate chips until just combined.
6. Scoop into muffin pan: Divide batter evenly into muffin pan lined with liners, or a silicone muffin pan.
7. Top with extra chocolate! Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top of the muffin batter before baking.
8. Bake + cool: Bake at 350 degrees for 18-24 minutes. Note: Exact bake time will depend on moisture of zucchini and carrots, so start checking around 18-20 minutes and add 1-2 minutes at a time until a fork or toothpick comes out with no batter sticking.
How To Store
Fridge: Cool muffins to room temperature on a wire rack and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Freezer: Cool muffins to room temperature on a wire rack and then transfer to a freezer safe container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or microwave in 20-30 second increments wrapped in a paper towel.
Variations
- Peanut butter chocolate muffins: Drop 1-2 tsp dollops of peanut butter on top of the scooped batter in the muffin tin and swirl gently before baking.
- Chocolate nut veggie muffins: For a boost of healthy fats and some crunch, stir in 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans into the batter.
- Swap the veggies: Instead of zucchini you can try pumpkin puree, butternut squash or sweet potato mash- just do a cup for cup swap. Instead of baby spinach, try baby kale or swiss chard.
- Chocolate banana veggie muffins: Instead of zucchini, swap in 1 cup of mashed ripe banana.
- Make them mini: Use a mini muffin pan with liners or silicone mini muffin pan for mini chocolate veggie muffins!
More Healthy Muffins
Chocolate Veggie Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat
- 1/3 cup dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2-2/3 cup mini chocolate chips, more for topping
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup carrots, grated
- 1 cup zucchini, grated
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-tin muffin pan with liners. (Or use a silicone muffin pan)
- Add all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt) to a large bowl except for the chocolate chips. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- Next, add all wet ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor. Run on high until batter is completely smooth, stopping to scrape sides as needed.
- Pour wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients. Stir gently until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
- Divide batter evenly into muffin tin. Top with extra chocolate chips. Bake for 18-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center muffin comes out clean. Note: Bake time will depend on your oven and moisture in your zucchini + carrots. Start checking for doneness around 18-20 minutes and add 1-2 minutes until toothpick or fork comes out with no batter sticking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an estimate.
Food photography by Marie-Catherine Dubé
Made these for our family-been trying to add more veggies anywhere I can and we all love these. Chocolate muffins are one of my favorite things. Will be making these A LOT!!!
Yay, so happy everyone loved them!
Hi! I have two questions:
1. Can I substitute kale for the spinach and not see a hugethis recipe? I have issues with high histamine foods and spinach is one of those that really affects me.
2. Do you know if there is a gluten free variation of this recipe? Im somewhat gluten sensitive unless its a fermented product.
Thank you!
Someone just recently made them with kale and said they were great! Kale is a little stronger tasting but should still work perfectly. Also, many people have made this using a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour!
I have made these several times now for my son’s lunchboxes. But they sink every time I pull them out the oven.
Any tips?
I would make sure your baking soda and baking powder isn’t old, and avoid over mixing :). Those are usually the most common culprits!
I was looking for a way to incorporate spinach into my son’s menu – these seemed like a great way to do it
Hi! How many grams are 1 cup ot carrot 200 other 250gr?
I’m so impressed by how good these are. I’ve been alternating a few of your muffin recipes every week for meal prep, and we all love them for a quick snack or pre-workout bite. They also freeze really well which is an added bonus.
Happy you love them! Definitely one of my favorite muffin recipes for sure 🙂
Made these for my husband and toddler as he hate eating veggies but loves chocolate i did banana carrot and kale instead they taste amazing going to be a regular thing i was wondering if there’s anything else I could put in to mix it up
Those are great subs! I bet butternut squash and sweet potato would work too!
Would it work with banana apple and blueberries and i have the goodies bluey pouches. And I’d like to you them as my little ones gone off them and if so how many would I need to use
If you mean the fruit/veggie applesauce pouches, I bet it would work!
Could I use almond flour?
I would use a gluten free 1:1 baking swap flour if you can’t use regular flour. Almond flour likely will not turn out the same.
This recipe was a success! I made this recipe with just a few tweaks based on what I had on hand:
1/4 c each of sour cream and Greek yogurt
Added 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed
And baked in a 8×8 pan instead of muffin tins and came out absolutely delicious!! I didn’t tell my toddler about the veggies and she just ate it like she would any regular chocolate cake! My husband thought it was a little too sweet from the honey so next time will put in a little less. Thank you!