Have you heard the good news? If baked goods and desserts are made from scratch in your kitchen they are not considered unhealthy. It’s actually a great rule to follow when trying to eat a clean food diet; eliminating store bought baked goods is a great step in that direction. Here is an awesome recipe that kids and adults love that includes chocolate chips and cocoa but the secret ingredient to the moist muffins is zucchini. And this green veggie is undetectable so anyone with fussy eaters – just don’t mention the fact they contain zucchini and it’s a win/win for the entire family!

Ingredients:

Tip – Canadian company Camino keeps baking organic, fair trade and tasty! I use their cocoa powder and whole brown sugar in my recipes.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
1 3/4 cups sugar (I use whole sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (*tip* Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk to make your own buttermilk)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves

2 cups fine grated zucchini
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Beat together butter, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Combine dry ingredients and then add to creamed mix. Add zucchini and chocolate chips and stir into mix. Add to muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

These muffins are our household favourite. The zucchini keeps the muffins moist and I like hiding veggies in my baking especially to balance the chocolate chips added. We made chocolate cupcakes last month for a birthday and the kids all commented they liked these muffins better than the cupcakes, so they’ll be a birthday party treat for future celebrations. Easy, homemade, and clean ingredients!