Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
If you have extra zucchini and sourdough discard to use up, these sourdough double chocolate zucchini muffins are something you'll want to add to your dessert repertoire. They're soft, rich, and loaded with chocolate, but the zucchini keeps them moist without adding much flavor. They're great for breakfast, snacks, lunchboxes, or freezing for later, and they come together with simple pantry ingredients.
The best part with these is that zucchini blends right into the batter, so the muffins definitely DON'T taste like vegetables. My kids were shocked when I told them the veggies are in there!
If you enjoy baking muffins with sourdough discard, I have tons of sourdough discard muffin recipe on the site, but I'd say my absolute favorites are sourdough discard poppy seed muffins and sourdough discard banana muffins with chocolate chips.
Summarize & Adapt This Recipe On:
Quick Look
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20-24 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes (or about 9 hours with overnight fermentation)
- Servings: 12 muffins
- Difficulty: Easy
- Baking Method: Oven
- Best For: Breakfast, snacks, lunchboxes, meal prep, using sourdough discard
Jump to:
- Summarize & Adapt This Recipe On:
- Quick Look
- Important Ingredients
- Substitutions & Variations
- How to Make Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Baking Schedule
- 💭Crucial Success Tips
- Recipe FAQs
- How To Store Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Other Sourdough Dessert Recipes
- Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Need Help Tweaking This Recipe?
- Other Sourdough Discard Recipes You'll Love
- Sourdough Discard Pancake Bowls
- Sourdough Palatschinken (Central European Crepes with Sourdough Starter or Discard)
- Sourdough Blueberry Cream Scones (Made With Discard)
Important Ingredients
- Zucchini adds moisture to the batter and helps keep these muffins soft for several days. There's no need to peel it or squeeze the water out, just grate it and use it as is.
- Sourdough Starter or Discard both active starter and unfed discard work well here, making this an easy recipe no matter where you are in your baking routine.
- Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder using Dutch-process cocoa gives these muffins a rich chocolate flavor and a darker color.
- Greek Yogurt adds richness and tenderness while helping create a soft crumb.
- Mini Chocolate Chips distribute more evenly throughout the batter, so every bite gets a little chocolate.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you have a grain mill at home and you're milling freshly milled flour, substitute all purpose flour with hard white wheat (in 1:1 ratio), or try soft white, spelt, or einkorn. These muffins are very flexible as far as different kinds of flour go!
- Replace honey with maple syrup if you want.
- Add 1 teaspoon espresso powder to enhance the chocolate flavor.
- Swap mini chocolate chips for chopped dark chocolate.
- Stir in chopped walnuts or pecans for extra texture.
How to Make Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease the pan.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (Image 1).
Step 2: In a separate bowl or large measuring jug, combine the grated zucchini, sourdough starter (or discard), Greek yogurt, honey, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Blend with an immersion blender until the mixture is mostly smooth (Image 2). A few tiny flecks of zucchini are perfectly fine.
Step 3: Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a spatula until almost combined (Image 3), then fold in the chocolate chips. Stop mixing as soon as no dry flour remains.
Step 4: Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips over the tops, if desired (Image 4).
Step 5: Bake for 20-24 minutes (Image 5), or until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Step 6: Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely (Image 6).
Hint: blend the wet ingredients until the zucchini is mostly smooth. This helps it disappear into the batter and creates a softer texture. When you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix only until no dry flour remains. Overmixing can make the muffins dense instead of tender.
Baking Schedule
Same-Day Version
- 9:00 AM: Preheat the oven and prepare the muffin pan.
- 9:10 AM: Mix the dry ingredients.
- 9:15 AM: Blend the wet ingredients.
- 9:20 AM: Combine the batter and fold in the chocolate chips.
- 9:30 AM: Fill the muffin pan.
- 9:35 AM: Bake for 20-24 minutes.
- 10:00 AM: Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- 10:05 AM: Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Overnight Fermented Version
The Night Before
- Mix the flour, sourdough starter, zucchini, Greek yogurt, and honey.
- Cover and ferment at room temperature for 8-10 hours.
The Next Morning
- Stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Divide the batter into the muffin pan.
- Bake as directed.
💭Crucial Success Tips
These really benefit from not being overbaked! I always start checking for doneness around 20 minutes. A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. This recipe works well with either active sourdough starter or unfed sourdough discard. The baking powder and baking soda provide the rise, so the starter doesn't need to be active.
No. The zucchini adds moisture but very little flavor. Most people won't notice it's there once the muffins are baked.
You can, but try to do only small amounts of it, or the recipe rations could become too different for the recipe to work. Since we're blending the zucchini beforehand, it's easy to throw in a handful of spinach or some grated carrots in the blender too. Just don't do too much, so the recipe can work properly.
How To Store Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Store the cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
For longer storage, refrigerate them for up to 1 week.
These muffins also freeze exceptionally well. Place them in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature or warm one in the microwave for about 20 seconds before serving.
Other Sourdough Dessert Recipes
- Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Rich Sourdough Chocolate Cake with with Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting
- Simple Summer Cake Bars with Berries
- Chocolate Coconut Puffed Rice Clusters
If you tried these sourdough double chocolate zucchini muffins or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below! Happy Baking!
Sourdough Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour 125 g
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder 35 g, Dutch-process
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips 85-115 g, plus extra for topping
Wet Ingredients
- 3 cups zucchini 300 g, coarsely grated
- ½ cup Greek yogurt 120 g, plain
- ⅓ cup honey 115 g
- ¼ cup oil 60 ml, neutral
- 2 eggs large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sourdough starter 100% hydration (240 g), or discard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease the pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl or large measuring jug, combine the grated zucchini, sourdough starter (or discard), Greek yogurt, honey, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Blend with an immersion blender until the mixture is mostly smooth. A few tiny flecks of zucchini are perfectly fine.
- Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a spatula until almost combined, then fold in the chocolate chips. Stop mixing as soon as no dry flour remains.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips over the tops, if desired.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Both active starter and unfed discard work.
- For an even deeper chocolate flavor, add 1 teaspoon espresso powder to the dry ingredients.
- These muffins become even fudgier on the second day and freeze exceptionally well.
-
Long-fermented version:
For the overnight method:- Mix the flour, starter, zucchini, yogurt, and honey the night before.
- Cover and ferment for 8-10 hours at room temperature.
- The next morning, stir in the cocoa, oil, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips, then bake as directed.
