I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to introduce Colleen, from What’s Baking in the Barbershop?! Colleen has become my blogger-turned-real-life-friend and I feel so fortunate to have met her (and tried her baked goods 
)! You NEED to check-out her blog for some great recipes like Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Kahlua Cream Cheese Frosting (yup, I’ve been lucky enough to try those and they taste as amazing as they sound!), Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream and Dark Chocolate Marbled Peanut Butter Banana Bread!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
First of all, I have to say that I am so excited to be guest posting for Simply Life! I love Gina’s blog and am continually impressed by the healthy, delicious meals she makes…as well as her beautiful, appetizing photos! It is an honor to be sharing one of my own recipes on Simply Life today!
There is a good chance that many of you have been enjoying the wonderful vegetable of zucchini this summer. And there’s also a good chance that you might have a lot of zucchini on hand. If you’re looking for something new and different to make with this abundant summer veggie, I highly suggest trying these double chocolate zucchini muffins. They’re great for breakfast…or they’re great for dessert, let’s be serious. These muffins are extra chocolate-y, thanks to the addition of both cocoa powder and chocolate chips. The zucchini also helps keep the muffins incredibly moist, a quality that I love in a muffin!
The original recipe I followed is from King Arthur Flour for Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. More often than not, if I’m following a new recipe for a quick bread that I haven’t tried before, I make the recipe into muffins instead of a loaf. Why might that be? Well, it’s a selfish reason really. If I make the recipe into muffins, I can taste test at least one muffin to make sure it’s a good recipe. 
I typically give away the baked goodies that I make, and I can’t very well slice a piece of bread to taste from a loaf that I’m giving to someone else, now can I? Exactly. So, muffins it is!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini, gently pressed
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin pan, or line the pan with cupcake liners. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, honey, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour, mixing until well combined. Stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. Hint: be sure to gently squeeze the shredded zucchini, using a paper towel or a kitchen towel, to remove excess water before adding the zucchini to the muffin batter.
2. Pour the batter into the muffin pan, filling the cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake regular-sized muffins for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (and if making mini muffins, bake them for about 10 to 12 minutes). Let cool for 3 or 4 minutes in the muffin pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For me, this recipe made 12 regular-sized muffins and 12 mini muffins. If you wanted to make all larger muffins, it would probably make approximately 16 large muffins. If making this recipe into a loaf, it makes one 8.5” by 4.5” loaf.
Thank you again to Simply Life for inviting me to guest post today!
~What is your favorite way to bake with vegetables?
