Chocolate Zucchini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are baked with cocoa and chocolate chips. Grated zucchini adds moisture and nutrition, not that you’ll notice it’s there flavorwise! 

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means we are celebrating Muffin Monday all day long. I had a zucchini in the fridge that was getting a little past its best and needed to be used, hence these chocolate zucchini muffins. 

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

This recipe is for a small batch of just six muffins but it’s easily doubled if you need 12. Or even trebled. Muffins batter is very forgiving like that. 

Ingredients

1/2 medium zucchini or courgette (approx. weight 2 2/3 oz or 75g)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 95g flour

1/4 cup or 20g cocoa

1/4 cup or 50g white sugar

1/4 cup, packed, or 50g brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup or 50g semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a little extra for topping, if desired.

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin tin by greasing it or lining it with muffin papers.

Grate the zucchini with the small holes of your grater and spread it around in a colander to drain.  Sprinkle with the 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars and baking powder. Mix in the chocolate chips and use your clean hands to separate any that are stuck together. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk and oil. Use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to squeeze moisture out of the grated zucchini. Add it to the wet ingredient bowl and whisk.

Pour your wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until they are just combined. There should be some dry flour still showing.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Add a few more chocolate chips to the top, if desired.  

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are puffed up and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Remove the muffins from the pan and cool further on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it’s Muffin Monday! Make sure to check out all the links below to see the muffins my blogger friends are sharing. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for her behind the scenes help this month!

• Buttermilk Muffins with Whiskey-Soaked Raisins by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Cherry Vanilla Muffins by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins by Food Lust People Love
• Churro Muffins by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pineapple Rice Krispie Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Raspberry Coconut Muffins by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Strawberry Sweetheart Streusel Muffins by Palatable Pastime
• Whole Wheat Thandai Muffins by Magical Ingredients

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!

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Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with leftover chili con carne, these cheddar chili bean muffins are a wonderful savory bake, perfect alone or as an accompaniment to your meal.

When researching recipes for another post, I came across a dish I had never heard of called fritoque (pronounced free-toh-kay.) It was on the menu of a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio way back when, made with cooked beans, broken tortilla chips and cheese. One variation on the recipe was a substitution of chili con carne for the beans. 

I made the chili then I made a hybrid fritoque that was half beans and half chili. Then I ran out of time to edit the photos and create the post before the event deadline, so I’ll have to share it another day. It was really tasty! 

But meanwhile, I had leftovers of the chili-bean mixture and using it in muffins seemed like a great idea. I’ve made chili cheese dog muffins before and they were fabulous. This recipe is very similar but no weenies. 

Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins

If you don’t have leftover chili con carne, you can use canned but keep in mind that the moisture content of the canned chili may be higher so strain it somewhat if it’s really wet.

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 oz or 57g extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated, plus extra for topping, if desired

1 cup or 260g chili with beans

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for the muffin pan

1 egg

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by brushing it with a little oil. 

Combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your egg, oil and chili with beans.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Divide your batter between the 6 muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with the extra cheese, if using.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It’s Muffin Monday, our first of 2023! Check out all the great muffins my friends are sharing with you today. 

• Almond Flour Banana Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Apple Bran Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Bran Buds Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Crumb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Dried Fig and Pineapple Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Persian Love Cake Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Small-Batch Double Chocolate Banana Muffins from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Cheddar Chili Bean Muffins!

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Spiced Pear Muffins #MuffinMonday

These spiced pear muffins are light, fluffy and full of fall flavors. The aroma as they bake is wonderful and will make your whole house smell fabulous. 

If you’ve been reading along here for a while, you know that the last Monday of every month is Muffin Monday. I get together with a group of bakers and we share muffin recipes. 

This month, I brought these to the vet clinic that helps Lone Star Boxer Rescue and our partners Austin Boxer Rescue with our pups as a thank you for their service all year round. I also brought some homemade peanut brittle. We love them and couldn’t rescue the dogs we do without their help, so I wanted to bring them an extra special Christmas treat! 

Spiced Pear Muffins

If you don’t have sugar crystals or demerara sugar for the cinnamon sugar topping, you can substitute regular sugar. This recipe is adapted from one on A Baking Journey.

Ingredients

1 medium pear

1 2/3 cup or 200g flour

1/3 cup or 70g brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

1/2 cup or 120g Greek yogurt

Cinnamon sugar topping (optional, but highly recommended)

1 1/2 tablespoons demerara sugar or sugar crystals

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line your 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease the pan well with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. 

Peel, core and cut the pear into small pieces. If you cut them too large, they tend to sink to the bottom of the muffin batter. 

Add the pears pieces to the flour mixture and stir to coat. 

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, canola and yogurt until smooth.

 

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture.

Fold until just combined. 

Divide the muffin batter between the cups in your prepared muffin pan. 

For the cinnamon sugar topping, if using, mix together the sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl. 

Sprinkle some of it over each muffin.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.  Place the muffins on a cooling rack. 

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it's Muffin Monday, the very last one of 2022! Many thanks to my fellow bakers. Please check out the recipes we are sharing below.

• Ham and Cheddar Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Peppermint Mocha Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Sourdough Hot Cocoa Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Spiced Pear Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Spiced Pear Muffins!

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Leftover Mashed Potato Muffins (Small Batch) #MuffinMonday

These leftover mashed potato muffins are fluffy, tender and cheesy. They are the perfect way to use up any leftover spuds. This recipe makes six muffins but it is easily doubled to make 12. 

I’ve finally succumbed to the lure of the air fryer! But only because I found the Ninja one that flips up and restores my counter space when not in use. It can supposedly also bake a 13- inch pizza, but we haven’t tested that. We have used it just about every day since we brought it home last week. 

The funny thing is, we haven’t actually employed the air fryer function yet. We’ve baked and broiled and reheated though. All good! The most amazing part is how quick it preheats compared to the big oven. Mere minutes! 

I baked this small batch of muffins in it and they took exactly as long as they would have in my big oven, 20 minutes on 350°F or 180°C, but the Ninja was on for only a total of about 22 minutes. That would have been a good 15 minutes more for preheating time in the big guy. 

All in all, so far, we have been pleased with the purchase. (No one is paying me to say any of this! I bought it in-store at Costco for a bargain $139.99 + tax. Here’s an Amazon affiliate link to the same model, if you’d like to check it out: https://amzn.to/3EGPbME)

Leftover Mashed Potato Muffins

This small batch recipe makes 6 muffins and can be baked in a conventional oven or a big air fryer/oven like the Ninja Foodie flip up. Baking time and temperature are the same for either. Recipe adapted from this sweet muffin one on Simplify Create Inspire. 

Ingredients

Canola or other light oil for greasing 6-cup muffin pan

1 cup or 125g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cayenne, optional 

2 tablespoons chopped green onions (green part only)

1/2 cup, grated, or about 60g extra sharp cheddar

1/2 cup or 120g leftover mashed potato

1 egg

1/4 cup or 60ml buttermilk

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 6-cup muffin pan by greasing it with oil. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. 

Add in the grated cheese and green onion, reserving a little bit of each for topping. Stir to coat them with the flour.

In another bowl, whisk together the mashed potatoes, egg and buttermilk.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined. 

Divide the thick batter between the muffin cups and top with the reserved cheese and green onion. 

Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm.

Enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s Muffin Monday, that magical day when we gather to celebrate how easy it is to bake muffins! Check out the list of recipes below from my Muffin Monday friends. 

• Almond Cranberry Orange Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• Cheddar, Bacon, and Potato Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Coconut Papaya Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cranberry Sauce Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Leftover Mashed Potato Muffins (Small Batch) from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Leftover Mashed Potato Muffins! 

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Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins #MuffinMonday

These small batch banana walnut muffins are perfect for breakfast or snack time, full of sweet banana flavor and crunch from the nuts. Serve them with a cup of hot tea or a glass of cold milk!

It’s the last Monday of the month so it’s time for Muffin Monday! Also, happy Halloween! I’m not going to suggest you hand out muffins because kids want candy, but muffins would be good for snacking on while you hand over the sweet stuff. 

Make sure to scroll down to see the other muffin recipes my friends are sharing today. 

Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins

This recipe is adapted from one on One Dish Kitchen. I have a feeling that my bananas must be larger than hers because I could easily have stretched the batter out to another muffin or even two. As it was, a couple of mine spilled over while baking. I’ve amended the ingredient list to say “medium” bananas. Perhaps that will help. I will say, we loved the muffins and I would make them again! 

Ingredients

2 overripe medium bananas

6 tablespoons or 85g butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for the pan

1 large egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup or 125g flour

½ cup or 100g sugar

1 oz or 28g walnuts, chopped (about 13 shelled walnut halves) 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Optional for decorating: 6 shelled walnut halves 

I set six aside and then forgot to put them on top before baking. Oh, well. 

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin pan by buttering it or lining it with paper liners. Alternatively, you can use silicone muffin cups, as I did. 

In a large bowl, mash your bananas with a fork. 

Add in the cooled, melted butter, the egg and the vanilla extract and whisk till all are incorporated. 

Fold in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, along with the chopped walnuts, until just mixed. 

You might have a little flour still showing and that’s just fine. 

Divide the batter between your prepared muffin cups. Top each with a walnut half, if desired. (Or if you remember.)

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned, today is Muffin Monday. Check out the recipes my fellow muffin bakers are sharing. 

• Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Cinnamon Pecan Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Pulled Pork Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Raisin Bran Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Walnut Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Small Batch Banana Walnut Muffins!

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Spiced Cheddar Cornbread Muffins #MuffinMonday

These spiced cheddar cornbread muffins are baked with cumin, kalonji and cayenne pepper, tasty savory treats perfect for breakfast or snack time.

 

The weather has already turned chilly and my husband has a toothache which makes chewing hard things painful. Those two things mean soups have been on the menu. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I love soup. 

I also love crusty bread or muffins to serve with them. Those complete the meal for me. Since crusty bread is hard to chew, this time I chose savory, spicy, cheesy muffins.

(P.S. For those who are concerned, he has a dentist’s appointment tomorrow morning. With any luck, he’ll be back to chewing again by dinner time.)

Spiced Cheddar Cornbread Muffins 

This recipe was adapted from one on BBC Good Food. It makes 8 regular sized muffins. 

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g flour

1/3 cup or 60g cornmeal or polenta

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 1/4 teaspoons kalonji aka nigella seeds

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 oz or 85g extra-mature cheddar, grated

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil, plus extra for the muffin pan

1 egg

Method

Heat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing eight holes. (Or use silicone cups on a pan. Mine are from Crate and Barrel but they are sold in many stores! I love them.) 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, mustard powder, cayenne and salt. Add in 1 teaspoon each of the cumin and kalonji seeds, reserving the last 1/4 teaspoon of each for sprinkling on top the muffins before baking. 

Add the grated cheddar, reserving a couple of tablespoons for topping, to the dry ingredients and stir to coat. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk the milk, oil and egg together and pour them into the dry ingredient bowl. Fold until just combined. 

Divide the mixture between the muffin cups. Combine the reserved cheese, cumin and kalonji and sprinkle this over the tops.

Bake the muffins for 20-22 mins until puffed up and golden. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Enjoy! 

It's Muffin Monday, the last Monday of every month, when we share our love of muffin baking and recipes. Check out the links below!

• Cinnamon Pear Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Fresh Fig and Orange Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Honey Oat Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Sourdough Maple Pecan Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spiced Cheddar Cornbread Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Spiced Cheddar Cornbread Muffins! 

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Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

These delightful orange chocolate chip muffins are fluffy and not overly sweet. They make the perfect snack with a cup of tea or cold glass of milk. 

Can you believe it?! I’ve been doing some form of Muffin Monday for more than 10 years now and for the first three years, I posted a muffin recipe every week. That’s something like 240 muffin recipes. You’d think that I’d have run out of flavor combinations but you would be wrong! 

While I have made muffins with chocolate and orange before, they were a chocolate muffin with orange marmalade added so they were much richer and kind of taste like Christmas, well, British Christmas. These are much lighter! 

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for these muffins but you could substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate, if you prefer. 

Ingredients for 12 muffins

2/3 cup or 130g sugar

Zest of 2 mandarin oranges

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

2 eggs

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil

Juice of 2 mandarin oranges (about 1/4 cup or 60ml)

1/2 cup or 90g semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a few extra for topping, if desired

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by spraying with non-stick spray or lining it with muffin papers.

Measure your sugar into a bowl and zest the mandarin oranges into it. Use the back of a spoon to press down on the zest and mix it in with the sugar, releasing the flavor and oil till the sugar is a pale yellow and whole bowl smells of bright citrusy sunshine. Go ahead, take a big sniff. It's glorious! 

Whisk together your flour, orange sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 

Add the chocolate chips to the flour/sugar mixture. I usually mix mine in with my clean hands so that I can separate any chocolate chips that are stuck together. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, oil, milk and orange juice.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just mixed, with a little flour still showing. 

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top with the extra chocolate chips, if desired. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pans and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

As mentioned above, it’s Muffin Monday! Check out the list of tasty muffins my friends are sharing with you today below. 

• Greek Lemon Yogurt Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Zucchini Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Whole Wheat Fig and Honey Muffins from Magical Ingredients

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins!

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