This healthy Gluten-Free Vegan Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Muffins recipe is easy to make with only 8 clean, real food ingredients and without traditional ingredients like white flour, white sugar, eggs or oil! { Plant-Based | Vegan | Gluten-Free | Dairy-Free | Egg-Free | Grain-Free | Flourless | Paleo-Friendly* }
Prepare a muffin pan lined with standard-sized silicone or unbleached muffin cups and set aside.
Prepare the flax egg:
Add all ingredients for the flax egg to a small bowl and whisk together until well combined, then set aside while you prepare the zucchini.
Prepare the zucchini:
Peel the zucchini and cut into 4 pieces. Add the zucchini pieces to a food processor and process until they are shredded into tiny pieces, but taking care to not over process.
Remove the shredded zucchini from the food processor and taking a handful at a time, squeeze it in your fist very tightly to remove as much water as possible. Repeat until you've squeezed the water from all the shredded zucchini. This is an important step because the muffins will not bake properly if there is too much moisture in the zucchini.
Transfer the shredded zucchini to a medium-size mixing bowl.
Prepare the muffin mixture:
Add all ingredients for the muffin mixture to the mixing bowl with the shredded zucchini.
Re-whisk the flax egg and add it to the mixing bowl.
Stir everything together until all ingredients are well distributed.
Add the add-in:
Add the chocolate chips add-in to the mixing bowl and gently them in until they are evenly distributed.
Assembly:
Evenly divide the muffin mixture between 9 standard-size muffin cups.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool slightly before serving.
Store in an air-tight BPA-free container.
Notes
*Zucchini: These are important tips regarding the zucchini:
You will need 1 1/2 cups after it's shredded + squeezed of excess water. I can get 1 1/2 cups from (1) large zucchini, but you may need 1-2 zucchini if they are smaller in size.
Make sure after you've processed the zucchini through the food processor you take a few minutes to squeeze as much liquid from the zucchini as possible. Zucchini is 95% water so any excess water left behind will affect the outcome of the recipe.
After shredding the zucchini in a food processor, take a handful at a time and squeeze it as tight as possible in your fist to allow the excess water to drain into a small bowl. Another option is to use a nut-milk bag.
**Peanut Butter: Substitute with organic almond butter or organic sunflower butter to keep this recipe and paleo compliant.Cacao Powder: Can be substituted with regular cocoa powder in the same amount.VanillaExtract: Can be substituted with organic vanilla bean powder in the same amount.ChocolateChips: I like to use mini chocolate chips in this recipe so the size of standard chocolate chips doesn't overpower the muffins, but you could use standard-size chocolate chips if you prefer.HimalayanPinkSalt: This is my salt of preference, however, you can always substitute with sea salt.ServingSize: This recipe will make (9) standard-size muffins. Nutritional information is for (1) muffin which is (1) serving.