These moist and fudgy Cherry Chocolate Zucchini Muffins loaded with so many cherries and chocolate, you won’t even realize there are veggies in them!
Made with Greek yogurt and plenty of freshly grated zucchini, these healthy muffins make the perfect breakfast or snack time treat. The best part is how easy they are to make!
Looking for more great breakfast and snack recipes? Here are a few you may enjoy.
Cherry Chocolate Zucchini Bread- A Twist on a Summertime Classic
Is your garden overflowing and you’ve found yourself with too many zucchini’s on hand? Or maybe you are just inspired to try this flavorful fudgy version of a summertime classic?
Either way, you are in for quite a treat. If you’ve got young ones at home they will love these. Loaded with juicy cherries and chocolate, you just can’t go wrong.
Fresh zucchini and fresh cherries are the perfect summertime pairing.
Cherry Chocolate Zucchini Bread- Ingredients
Take a stroll through the produce section in July and you’ll see these two items are at their peak of ripeness together.
Let’s take a look at the ingredients you will need to make this delicious treat
Zucchini– You’ll need 1 cup of freshly grated zucchini. That’s about 1 medium zucchini. Don’t be tempted to squeeze out the water after grating, it helps moisten the batter.
Fresh or Frozen Cherries– Of course, fresh is always best but if you can’t get your hands on fresh cherries, substituting frozen pitted cherries works fine. Just be sure whichever type of cherry you use, it is pitted and cut in half.
Cocoa Powder-Have ever noticed how some brownies or chocolate baked goods made with cocoa powder look more fudgy? It may be because it was made with Dutch-Processed cocoa powder. Dutch-Processed cocoa powder has been alkalized which makes it a darker color. Just beware, if your recipe calls for baking soda, you’ll want to use non alkalized cocoa powder to make sure the baking soda reacts properly. Otherwise, feel free to use the Dutch-processed variety and get that nice dark fudgy color. There’s a great article all about cocoa powder over at Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Eggs– You’ll need 1 fresh egg at room temperature for this recipe.
All-Purpose Flour-This is just your basic muffin recipe, so all-purpose flour works fine her.
Brown Sugar– Using brown sugar helps add moisture to the muffins. It also lends a nice buttery flavor.
Buttermilk– I love the way Buttermilk adds a nice tangy flavor to muffins! If you have some on hand that’s great, but if not you can substitute any type of milk.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips– I like to use the bakers chunks because I love biting into big melted chocolate bits, but any type of chocolate pieces will work well in this recipe.
Butter– room temperature butter creams much faster and silkier thatn cold butter, so let your ingredients come to room temperature whenever possible.
Mixing these muffins takes just a few minutes
In the bowl of your mixer cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and scrape the sides. Mix until smooth.
Stir in the grated zucchini, Greek yogurt and buttermilk.
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the liquid ingredients.
Fold until just combined. Add the chocolate chip pieces and pitted chopped cherries.
[lt_recipe name=”Double Chocolate Cherry Zucchini Bread” servings=”15 Muffins” prep_time=”20M” cook_time=”20M ” total_time=”20M” difficulty=”EASY” summary=”Juicy cherries and chocolate chips make these healthy muffins totally irresistible!” print=”yes” ingredients=”Butter 1/2 cup;Brown Sugar 2/3 cup;Egg 1;Vanilla 1 tsp;Zucchini,shredded 1 cup;Plain Greek Yogurt 2/3 cup;Buttermilk 1/3 cup;All-Purpose Flour- 2 cups;Cocoa Powder- 1/2 cup;Baking Powder-2 tsp;Nutmeg- 1/2 tsp;Cinnamon-1 tsp;Salt 1/2 tsp;Chocolate Chips- 1 cup;Cherries, pitted- 1/2 cup” ]For this recipe use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer with beaters. ; Prepare cupcake pans by lining with cupcake liners or spraying with pan spray.; In a medium mixing bowl measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.; Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and smooth. ; Add egg and vanilla, scraping sides of bowl frequently. ( if the mixture looks a little lumpy or curdled, keep mixing on medium speed until it gets smooth); Add the zucchini, Greek yogurt, and buttermilk to the egg mixture. Scrape sides and fold all ingredients together. ; Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just blended. ; Add the cherry pieces and chocolate chips and fold to blend. ; Scoop into muffin tins filling each well 3/4 full. ; Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. ; Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center.;[/lt_recipe]
