I loved these muffins!!! I tweaked the original recipe to have less added sugar, and I thought they turned out great. Full disclosure: I was the only one in my house that loved them. Lol. I’ve added a little more sugar to the recipe here to make it sweeter. I love chocolate, so it had plenty of sweetness to me. They would be great for breakfast, snacks, or dessert.
Now, if you’re wondering about what the “secret” of the muffins are–it’s veggies. 1 cup shredded zucchini! That gives these muffins fruit and veggies, plus healthy sources of sugar instead of adding the processed granulated sugars.
You could certainly omit the maple syrup and banana and add the granulated and brown sugars from the original recipe. You can also use semisweet chocolate instead of dark chocolate to add a little more sweetness.
Banana Double Chocolate Secret Muffins (adapted from Carlsbad’s Cravings)
Wet ingredients
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla cashew milk (can use whatever milk you like!)
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup walnuts
4 oz dark chocolate
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners and grease liners.
Mix all wet ingredients in a small bowl. Combine walnuts and chocolate in a food processor until finely ground. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, including the walnut/chocolate mixture.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until incorporated but still lumpy. Do not overmix!
Use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon or ice cream scoop to fill muffin tin with batter–fill each tin about 2/3 full.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking, until a toothpick comes out batter-free from the center of the muffin. (The toothpick won’t be clean because of the melty chocolate).
Let cool and enjoy!
