Courgette Muffins with Chocolate Chips, and no refined sugar added, a delicious little treat for kids and grown-ups alike. Great for a picnic, a less naughty afterschool snack or just a little bite of the go, these sweet muffins are super quick and easy to make.
Muffins must be the quickest bites to bake, they are ready in about 30 minutes from scratch, and you can add to them pretty much anything you like, from fresh or dried fruit, veggies, meat, you name it.
They can also cater to all lifestyles, they can be vegan, vegetarian, meat-based, low carb, low fat, low calorie and the list is endless.
Although courgettes are in season in summer time, they can be easily found in any supermarket all year round. So many recipes can be made with courgettes, and my favourite are Greek courgette fritters, Carrots and Courgette Muffins and Healthy Baked Courgette Bites.
So, why are my courgette muffins healthy? Well, first, they have no added refined sugar (yaay), they have no sweeteners, no hidden nasty ingredients, no flavourings, and so on. Plus, I used good-quality dark chocolate chips, which have a much lower amount of sugar added.
I came across many muffin recipes online that use 2-3 cups of refined sugar, which, if you ask me, it's totally outrageous. Why add so much refined sugar?
Unless you don't mind eating calorie bombs, I would say that much sugar is no unnecessary. Mashed bananas are a great sugar substitute, or, if you really want them sweeter, you can add honey or maple syrup. But for the love of all that's holy, don't add 3 cups of sugar, that's just insane!
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Ingredients used
- self-raising flour - it helps with the fluffy texture
- courgette - a medium sized courgette, grated and squeezed
- dark chocolate chips - you can also go for milk or white chocolate chips
- banana - ripe, mashed
- honey - or maple syrup
- egg - at room temperature
Step-by-Step photos and instructions
These muffins have a lovely moist texture, given the fact that they use fresh courgettes and bananas. Rest be assured, they are baked to perfection with no undercooked batter whatsoever. I'm telling you, they are just amazing!
- start by grating the courgettes, and squeezing as much liquid as possible
You can either do so using your hands, or transfer the grated zucchini to a clean cloth, and squeezing well. Too much liquid will result in soggy muffins that won't bake well.
- sift the flour, then add the grated and squeezed courgettes, mashed banana, honey (if using), chocolate chips and egg
Make sure the banana is well ripen, it will add moisture and sweetness to the muffins. The egg has to be beaten well to get fluffy muffins. No need to add any milk, the muffins will turn out perfectly without any liquid added.
- line a 6-hole muffin tray will paper cases, and divide the batter evenly
- bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden
How to store the muffins
Because these muffins are moist, they can be kept at room temperature without drying out. Mine were left on the kitchen counter for 2 days, without any change in texture or taste.
You can transfer them to a large plastic container if you want to store them away in a cupboard, or take them out on a picnic.
No need to wrap them individually, unless you want to freeze them. In this way you can defrost as many as you like, without having to defrost all of them at the same time.
Are the muffins kid friendly?
Since they don't use added sugar, the chocolate chips are the only slightly naughty ingredient here. Most of the sugar is naturally occurring sugar anyway.
You can use a lot less chocolate chips though or not at all, if you offer the muffins to toddlers, and you don't want them to addicted to chocolate just yet.
Adding too many chocolate chips will make the muffins way too moist anyway, since they melt while baking, so for 6 muffins, about a quarter cup of chocolate chips is more than enough. Double all the ingredients if you use a regular 12-hole muffin tray.
Other muffins recipes
Healthy Banana Muffins for Kids (no sugar)
Baby Led Weaning Savoury Muffins
Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins
If you’ve tried my HEALTHY CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI MUFFINS or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Courgette Muffins with Chocolate Chips
Equipment
- muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 courgette
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 banana, mashed
- 2 tablespoon honey (or maple syrup)
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
- Grate the courgette, and use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Beat the egg well.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, add the grated courgette, mashed banana, chocolate chips, honey and egg.
- Mix everything together without overmixing.
- Line the muffin tin with paper cases, and divide the batter between each case.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Leave to cool completely before removing the muffins from the paper cases.
Notes
- You can either squeeze the courgette using your hands, or transfer the grated courgettes to a clean cloth, and squeezing well.
- Too much liquid will result in soggy muffins that won't bake well.
- Make sure the banana is well ripen, it will add moisture and sweetness to the muffins.
- The egg has to be beaten well to get fluffy muffins.
- No need to add any milk, the muffins will turn out perfectly without any liquid added.
M
I have a question about these muffins, can i use something as a substitute for the banana?
Daniela Anderson
Hello! Thank you for your message! I used banana as a replacement for sugar, since it’s naturally sweet and healthy. You can use apple sauce instead for sweetness, if you still want to avoid refined sugar, or use 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. Leaving it out without a replacement won’t change the texture, just the taste. I hope it helps!
Janelle
I made these for my toddler and they’re so good! Thank you!
Daniela Anderson
Glad you liked them! My daughters love them too!
Shapla
Hi, I wanted to make these but was wondering if I could replace the egg with something else. Not vegan but due to egg allergy
Daniela Apostol
Hi! You can leave the egg out and add more mashed banana, that’s usually a good substitute for egg.