Kid Friendly,  Muffins

My Favorite Muffin Threesome – Chocolate Chips, Zucchini, and Orange

I’ve been making muffins for my family for almost 10 years now and the one recipe that I can’t keep little hands off of is my recipe for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Orange Muffins. Today my kids ate 3 each throughout the day and I’m sure if I didn’t stop them they would’ve eaten them until they got sick. This guilt free, kid friendly recipe has made it to the top of our favorite muffins list.

Over the years I’ve gone through several zucchini bread recipes adding my own spin to them and finally settling with this recipe. As usual I like to reduce sugar, cut out oil, add a few extras and viola a new recipe emerges. When I originally made zucchini bread or muffins I didn’t add the chocolate chips but only the orange zest and orange juice. Now we can’t live without the chocolate chips in them, lol. If you can, start off your little one with just a zucchini orange muffin while they are young. My kids ate them like that for quite awhile but once I added the chocolate chips they didn’t forget, lol. I use mini chocolate chips because they don’t sink to the bottom of the batter like the standard size do.

These muffins always turn out moist and flavorful. They taste even better the next day after the flavors have had time to sit together. This is a great way to get your children to eat veggies.

Jen’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Orange Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (can replace 1 tsp with orange extract if you like)
3 cups shredded zucchini (about 4 medium/large zucchini)
Zest and juice from 1 orange (the more zest the better, sometimes I add zest from 2 oranges)
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray muffin pans with nonstick baking spray.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in medium size bowl. Set aside. In mixing bowl add the oil, applesauce, 3 eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add sugars and mix well. Next add sifted dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Add in zucchini, orange zest, orange juice, and mini chocolate chips. Mix until fully incorporated. Use large scoop and fill muffins cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Makes 24-30 muffins. It usually makes 26 muffins for me. If you fill the cups half way you can get up to 30 muffins. The muffins taste best the next day after all flavors have had time to sit together and taste great chilled. Freeze really well. Enjoy!

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