Hummusapien

Vegan Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Unless you hide veggies in alllll the things…YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US.

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I used to post muffin recipes all the time on this bloggy boo. They’re just the perfect snackity—hearty, healthy, and tasty to boot! Whenever I make muffins now, I use both almond meal and oat flour. Using almond meal adds a boatload of healthy fats that not only make your hair and skin totally shiny and gorg, but it also helps boost your immune system, fight chronic disease, and combat inflammation!

Using almond meal rather than a grain-based flour also helps lower the carbohydrate content of the muffies, which is great for when you want a yummy snack that’s not a total carb bomb. You know I love my carbs, but when you eat a plant-based diet that involves carbs out the wazoo (think beans, rice, whole-grain crackers, quinoa, sweet potatoes, hummus), sometimes you just want a snack that’s not as carbalicious.

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Because almonds are higher in fat, I find you don’t have to add as much oil to the batter as you would with all whole wheat or oat flour. I get my almond meal at Trader Joe’s and then I simply whiz a cup of old-fashioned oats in the Nutribullet to make oat flour. Sometimes I buy the organic Arrowhead Mills oat flour as a shortcut, but you really can’t beat the price of a hugh jass container of old-fashioned oats! I bought the biggest size of Target brand oats on sale last week for a whopping $2.69! Thirty servings for $2.69? Hellooooo cheap, healthy breakfast!

These babies are sweetened with a wee quarter cup of coconut palm sugar, so it’s of utmost importance for you to use SUPER ripe nanners. I’m talking the black kind that you think you should throw away but are secretly the key to the bestest banana bread. If you’re using spotted nanners that are still kind of yellow, you may want to add a couple more tablespoons of sugar. To make these more of a dessert-like muffin, you could up the sugar to a half cup. I think they’re plenty sweet as is, especially with the melty bites of chocolate chips!

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I like to use coconut palm sugar because it’s less refined and therefore has trace amounts of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, but good old brown sugar will work just fine, too. Coconut sugar also has a lower glycemic index than refined white sugar, meaning it won’t spike your blood sugar as quickly. But at the end of the day, it’s still sugar—so go for the more natural kinds and use them in moderation! Keep in mind that coconut oil is still 100% fat (fourteen grams per tablespoon) with zero fiber, just like coconut sugar is still 100% sugar (four grams per teaspoon). While they do provide some nutritional benefits, don’t go scarfing ’em down just because everyone and their brother promises they’ll lead to miraculous weight loss. There’s no substitution for good old-fashioned clean eating and exercise, my friends…not even tablespoons on tablespoons of organic coconut oil.

Another note—if you don’t care about a muffin being vegan, you can always substitute the flax “eggs” for regular eggs (two in this case). I think these would also be fab with some shredded coconut, walnuts, some cacao, and a little nutmeg. If you try anything fun, tell me in the comments!

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These were adapted from my banana coconut muffins, which is a super old recipe but definitely one of my favorites. Some of the oldest recipes on this site are actually the ones that I make most often, like my salmon burgers, avocado bean burgers, almond butter broccoli stir fry, and tomato, basil and kale quiche. Brace yourself for some seriously funny old blog posts! PS–my almond butter zucchini bars are one of the most popular recipes on the blog, so if you have an extra zucchini, whip up a batch and thank me later! They are one serious present for your face.

Now go make these. They’re so fetch.

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Vegan Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

★★★★★ 4.8 from 10 reviews
  • Author: Alexis
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 17 mins
  • Total Time: 27 mins
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Muffins, Bars and Bites
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Description

These deliciously moist, vegan, and gluten free muffins are packed with flavor and nutrition!

Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water
  • 2 medium, very overripe (nearly black) bananas
  • 1 cup shredded zucchini (one medium zucchini), packed, liquid squeezed out
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats, ground into flour (grind oats in blender/food processor to make flour)
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Combine flax and water in a small bowl and set aside to gel.
  3. Using paper towels, squeeze liquid out of zucchini. Add zucchini to a large bowl. Add bananas and mash with a fork. Add coconut oil and vanilla to bowl and stir until well combined. Stir in flax mixture.
  4. In a separate medium bowl, stir together almond flour, oat flour, oats, coconut sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well combined.
  5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to over-mix. The batter will be thick. Fold in chocolate chips.
  6. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes in muffin tin before carefully transferring muffins to cooling rack to cool completely.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 muffin
  • Calories: 170
  • Sugar: 10g
  • Sodium: 185
  • Fat: 9g
  • Saturated Fat: 3g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 21g
  • Fiber: 3g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Cholesterol: 0g

 

Comments

  4. Oh wow, these muffins look fantastic! The texture looks really interesting – I’m not a fan of muffins that are super bread-y and homogenous throughout, so these definitely caught my eye. Looking forward to trying them!

    Reply

  10. Do flax seeds gel like chia seeds? If I don’t have flax seeds could I use chia seeds instead? Also, I love your blog! You’re so fun and deliver fun healthy recipes and treats. Keep them coming, you’re one of my faves! xoxo

    Reply

    • Hey Giulia! Yep, ground flaxseed and whole chia seeds both gel. Either one is fine! Thanks so much for the sweet comment–so glad you’re enjoying the blog!

      Reply

  14. “Unless you hide veggies in alllll the things…YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US.” <- I knew you were one of those mean girls all along. Dang, now I either need to veggie-fy ALL of my upcoming recipes or … find blog friends who despise vegetables. But that'd be like denying my heritage. Blog-wise. Okay, I think I can find a way to sneak vegetables into a baked good or two. And your muffins sound pretty awesome.

    Reply

  15. I put pumpkin in some of my baked goods — does that count? :D Confession: zucchini is on my veggie hit list so I kind of like to keep it as far away from my desserts as humanely possible, buuuuut I have a feeling a lot of that comes back to the one bad experience I had with it in the past… which I probably need to get over :shock:

    Reply

    • Heck yes it counts! I cannot freaking wait to have an excuse to eat pumpkin on alllll the things every single day. Hurry up, fall! So sorry to hear about your zucchini experience–I say try try again :)

      Reply

  17. So, I went ahead and made these last night – I knew they were coming thanks to your teasers on IG & FB so I had a zucchini and nanners waiting! I could hardly wait, and I was right, they are incredible. Crazy moist and so tasty! Obviously the bites with the choc chips are the best. I had one right out of the oven. :) I don’t think I had ever made vegan muffins before, so fun! My nanners weren’t black but I was too impatient to wait (plus my zucchini was ready to go) so I did add a little more coconut sugar. I filled about 3/4 of a 1/2C scoop, and they are perfect. The chocolate chips and banana help keep it sweet, and really, I can’t stress how PERFECTLY MOIST these babies are. I gave my manager one and told her they were healthy, and she ate it and then goes, “is this thing really healthy or is this like mean girls where they convince rachel mcadams that those fattening bars will burn up all her carbs?” LOL! She also said it was delicious. So, I’m looking forward to a promotion. JK. I am looking forward to eating more of these, though! Great recipe, great pics, love healthy muffins, love your guts.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  19. So I just did a spin on your recipe, and turned them into brownies. I used the oat flour (so easy and I feel so much better than using regular bleached flour!), did double zucchini, and added sugar (I’m traditional when it comes to sugar), almond butter, egg whites, and cocoa powder. I’m putting the recipe up on my blog tomorrow but don’t worry I will certainly be giving up the credit for my inspiration – Hummusapien! I love your recipes, thanks for sharing them all!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • I’m so glad you like the background nutrition info! I’m gonna try to include that stuff more often without being boring :) There’s a fine line!

      Reply

  23. Omgosh these are so good! I used dark choc chips and so delish. Thanks for always giving us the best recipes!!! Never came across one I didn’t like:)

    Reply

  25. Alexis, I honestly try every recipe you post. One of my friends sent me your website 1 year ago and have been hooked ever since.

    Reply

  26. Can I tell you a secret? I’ve been making pumpkin baked goods all summer! I pretty much buy TJ’s out of their pumpkin every winter so I can use it all year…shhh! So, with that off my chest- last week I made a double batch of your pumpkin choc chip muffins, and seriously, I had forgotten how totally amazing they are,,, and how does this relate to this post?…well, I’m going to make these zucchini babies today…and, wait for it…they both use almond meal! There! Done and done! :)

    Reply

  27. Yum! You are a genius at helping me use up zucchini and summer squash as part of healthy snacks. These are delicious and easy. I didn’t think it was possible to like another recipe more than the PB Zucchini Bars! Thanks.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  28. Hi there, just made your banana coconut muffins and they are superb! I normally have pretty good self control but I’ve already had two!

    I now want to try these and already have the oat flour so was wondering how much flour 1 cup of rolled oats yields after it is ground?

    Thanks for the delish recipes! I’m scared to go through your recipe archives…I know there will be tonnes I want to try :)

    Reply

  29. Just wanted to say that these are the best muffins I’ve ever made. Made them non-vegan with 2 eggs, also added a bit of flaked coconut otherwise followed the recipe and they were amazing! Will be making some more of your recipes soon, glad I stumbled across your blog!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  31. SO GOOD!
    I made these last night, alongside your almond Joy bars and my mouth & tummy LOVE ME!
    Koodos you you.

    I put some almond butter on one of these babies this morning and would highly recommend that.
    Question… do you have the nutrition facts for these, that would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks so much and I look forward to making LOTS more of your recipes

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hey there! So glad you’re enjoying everything :) Nope–I don’t calculate nutrition info. Feel free to enter the recipes into MyFitnessPal for easy nutrition info!

      Reply

  32. I made these with 1 cup oat flour and 1 cup of brown rice flour since I didn’t have almond flour and I wanted to use up some of those random flours that have taken over one bin of my refrigerator. This made the batter a bit too thick so added around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of almond milk. Also stirred in some walnuts, just can’t have muffins without nuts! And 1/2 t ground cloves in addition to the cinnamon. Also used Sucanat, also becaue that’s what I had to use up! They’re in the oven now and they’re rising so all looks well.

    ★★★★

    Reply

  33. I made these yesterday and they are so delicious! I made them into little muffins and just baked them for 12 minutes. I let the flax egg sit for a long time before using it and I think that helped. I’ve had to hide them because my kids and I just want to scarf them up in one sitting. Thank you for this recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  34. These are totally delicious! My bananas weren’t quite as ripe as I wanted and I was out of coconut sugar, so I used about ⅓ c brown sugar. So yummy!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  35. Thanks for the recipe! I made them and the insides were rather undercooked. Next time I am going to cook them longer, but do you have any suggestions to help with this issue? I had to use chia seed eggs because of a flax intolerance, so I’m not sure if that made a difference. Thanks!

    ★★★★

    Reply

    • That shouldn’t make a difference so I’d just say cook them longer, no worries! I always test with a fork before I take them out since all ovens are different :)

      Reply

Trackbacks

  8. […] 7. Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | HummusapienThese decadent, moist muffins are made with ground almonds, oats, ripe banana and a dash of sugar for a healthy treat you won’t feel guilty about! You’d never guess they were vegan and gluten-free. If you don’t have almond flour on hand, simply grind up a cup of raw almonds in a blender or food processor until they resemble the texture of flour. For extra crunch, add in a handful of crushed walnuts. Recipe makes 12 servings. […]

    Reply

  9. […] 7. Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | Hummusapien These decadent, moist muffins are made with ground almonds, oats, ripe banana and a dash of sugar for a healthy treat you won’t feel guilty about! You’d never guess they were vegan and gluten-free. If you don’t have almond flour on hand, simply grind up a cup of raw almonds in a blender or food processor until they resemble the texture of flour. For extra crunch, add in a handful of crushed walnuts. Recipe makes 12 servings. […]

    Reply

  10. […] 7. Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | Hummusapien These decadent, moist muffins are made with ground almonds, oats, ripe banana and a dash of sugar for a healthy treat you won’t feel guilty about! You’d never guess they were vegan and gluten-free. If you don’t have almond flour on hand, simply grind up a cup of raw almonds in a blender or food processor until they resemble the texture of flour. For extra crunch, add in a handful of crushed walnuts. Recipe makes 12 servings. […]

    Reply

  11. […] 7. Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | HummusapienThese decadent, moist muffins are made with ground almonds, oats, ripe banana and a dash of sugar for a healthy treat you won’t feel guilty about! You’d never guess they were vegan and gluten-free. If you don’t have almond flour on hand, simply grind up a cup of raw almonds in a blender or food processor until they resemble the texture of flour. For extra crunch, add in a handful of crushed walnuts. Recipe makes 12 servings. […]

    Reply

  12. […] 7. Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | Hummusapien These decadent, moist muffins are made with ground almonds, oats, ripe banana and a dash of sugar for a healthy treat you won’t feel guilty about! You’d never guess they were vegan and gluten-free. If you don’t have almond flour on hand, simply grind up a cup of raw almonds in a blender or food processor until they resemble the texture of flour. For extra crunch, add in a handful of crushed walnuts. Recipe makes 12 servings. […]

    Reply

  14. […] 7. Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | Hummusapien These decadent, moist muffins are made with ground almonds, oats, ripe banana and a dash of sugar for a healthy treat you won’t feel guilty about! You’d never guess they were vegan and gluten-free. If you don’t have almond flour on hand, simply grind up a cup of raw almonds in a blender or food processor until they resemble the texture of flour. For extra crunch, add in a handful of crushed walnuts. Recipe makes 12 servings. […]

    Reply

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