Chocolate Courgette (Zucchini) Muffins with Passionfruit Frosting

I’ve never been a huge chocolate muffin fan. I’ve always leaned more towards the blueberry kind, but I must say these might just have converted me.

That’s because these. are. delicious.

It’s fact.

Courgette Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

How do I even explain? The tart sweetness of the passionfruit is perfect to cut through the dark chocolatey-ness of the muffins. They’re moist and tender, and the flavours are just spot on.

You can’t even taste the veg, but it’s in there, giving you that extra bit of goodness and lending moisture and texture to the muffin. 

Courgette Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Of course you don’t have to make the passionfruit frosting, but why wouldn’t you? It’s freaking awesome and makes the world of a difference here. It takes a humble (but tasty) chocolate muffin and just elevates it to a showstopper.

If you’ve got a good hand, you could chill and add this frosting to a piping bag and make some pretty patterns. I’m pretty rubbish at that, so I tried to just make it look nice. Nothing fancy over here.

Courgette Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

I promise you, you can’t taste the courgettes, especially as they’re finely grated and kind of just hide in the recipe. If you’ve got kids, this is the perfect way to sneak in some greens. They won’t know what (healthy goodness) hit them!

Courgette Zucchini Chocolate Muffins
I know I’ve got a few flours here, but to make a gluten free baked good actually taste good, you’ve got to mix n’ match, or else it just won’t taste like its supposed to.

Sorghum flour is actually quite similar to whole wheat, and the ground almonds (which I actually ground myself from whole almonds – feeling so nifty!) give it a delicious nutty taste and add body, while the tapioca lightens it up. If you can’t find sorghum, I’d use oat flour instead as it’s the closest thing.

Courgette Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate Courgette (Zucchini) Muffins with Passionfruit Frosting
 
These chocolate courgette muffins are super chocolate-y and incredibly delicious. You would never know there is a hidden vegetable in there, and the passion fruit frosting is just so decadent and takes this muffin to a whole different level. You could omit the frosting from some of them for a grab-n-go breakfast, and use the frosting when you want it to be more of a dessert. Up to you, frosting with breakfast would work too!
Author:
Recipe type: Gluten Free, Vegan Option, Healthy
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 1 cup finely grated courgette / zucchini, skin on
  • ⅔ cup (85g) ground almonds
  • ¾ cup (125g) sorghum flour
  • ¼ cup (40g) tapioca starch
  • 1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
  • 1 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ cup (45g) coconut sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ cup (125ml) apple sauce
  • ¼ cup (65ml) melted coconut oil
  • ¼ cup (65ml) almond milk
  • 2 eggs or 2 chia eggs*
  • 4-5 tablespoons cacao powder
Passion fruit Glaze
  • 6 tablespoons macadamia butter
  • 6 tablespoons coconut butter
  • 12 passion fruits, pulps scooped out straight into the bowl
  • Pinch vanilla powder
  • coconut flour, to dust
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC/395ºF and line or lightly grease a 12-piece muffin tin.
  2. Now start by getting the moisture out of your courgette/zucchini. To do this, either place it (already grated) in a clean kitchen towel or into a colander, and squeeze/press out as much of the moisture as you can.
  3. In a large bowl, add your flours, psyllium husk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix so that everything is evenly combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk your eggs and add your applause, coconut oil, almond milk, and cacao powder. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix everything until there are no more clumps or lumps. Stir in the courgette / zucchini, only until combined, no need to over mix!
  5. Fill in all the muffin cups about ¾ of the way and place in the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  6. Let cool before removing from the tin.
Passion fruit Glaze
  1. While the muffins cool, make the glaze. Simply mix all of the ingredients together until smooth and delicious. Spoon or pipe onto cooled muffins for the ultimate indulgence.
Notes
VEGAN: to make the chia eggs, simply mix the seeds with 6 tablespoons water for 10 minutes. It will result in a slightly denser cake, but will still be delicious!
Courgette Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate Courgette (Zucchini) Muffins with Passionfruit Frosting
Menu