Teaching kids how to cook can be tricky so it’s best to start with something easy like this recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins. The kids will love the tasty result of their efforts too!
5 reasons kids should be taught to cook
- Cooking together is great for bonding families and often provides kids with a safe space to tell their parents what is going on in their lives.
- Making a snack or a meal educated kids on the ingredients that go into food and gives kids confidence in their own abilities.
- Following a recipe teaches math as kids work out factions of a cup or weigh out ingredients.
- Reading a recipe and following step-by-step instructions is a valuable reading skill.
- Making muffins is actually chemistry in action! A muffin rises due to the chemical reaction between the baking soda and the liquids. The reaction created bubbles and the flour mixture helps to trap the bubbles in the chocolate muffins.
Find out more about teaching kids to cook at each age.
For a first time baker, this recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins is ideal. It’s easy to make with simple cooking techniques and the results are pretty much guaranteed. The chocolate flavor is one that most kids enjoy meaning these delicious muffins will be a hit with most kids. They won’t even notice the sneaky hidden vegetable!
Baked goods are always nice to give as a treat to family, friends or neighbors so if it’s zucchini season, make a double batch and give some as a gift.
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recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins
Servings: 12 muffins
Prep: 15 minutes| Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 eggs (room temperature)
¼ cup butter melted
¼ cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups shredded garden zucchini
¾ cup mini dark chocolate chips plus extra for sprinkling top of muffins
Equipment:
Box grater or food processor
12 serving cupcake pan or muffin tin
Whisk or wooden spoon
Large bowl for mixing
Large metal spoon
Cupcake liners or muffin papers
Shredded Zucchini Tips:
For best results, pick fresh zucchini that are nice and firm and not those that have a soft texture. Do not use frozen zucchini as this will be too watery.
Hold the zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and shred the zucchini using a box grater. The towel will protect little fingers from the grater but you still need to be careful. If you have a food processor, you can use this instead with adult help. The zucchini can be damp but you don’t want them to be too wet. If the grated zucchini is very wet, then you can mop up excess moisture with a paper towel before using them. You could also put the zucchini in a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and leave them to drain for 30 minutes before you use them.
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add cupcake liners to one 12 serving cupcake pan or muffin tin and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and fold together using a large spoon, spatula or whisk until well mixed. Do not overmix.
- Fold shredded zucchini and chocolate chips into the batter.
- Mix gently until it all looks like this
- Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared liners of the cupcake pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top of the muffins.To make this easier, you can use an ice cream scoop instead of a spoon.
- Get an adult to put the muffins into the oven. Bake for 15 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Get an adult to remove cupcakes from the oven and place them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes:
You can put the batter in a 9×5 loaf pan and bake for 50-55 min if you prefer chocolate zucchini bread.
You can store the muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They also freeze well in a freezer-safe bag. Remove them from the freezer a couple of hours before you want to serve them. If you have extra zucchini, you could make double the quantity and freeze leftovers.
The chocolate chip zucchini muffins are delicious on their own but the best way to serve them as a dessert is with some chocolate or vanilla ice cream
Other Recipes For Kids
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Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Equipment
- 1 Box grater or food processor
- 1 12 serving cupcake pan or muffin tin
- 1 Whisk or wooden spoon
- 1 Large bowl for mixing
- 1 Large metal spoon or spatula
- 12 Cupcake liners or muffin papers
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cups shredded garden zucchini
- ¾ cup mini dark chocolate chips plus extra for sprinkling top of muffins
Notes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add cupcake liners to one 12 serving cupcake pan or muffin tin and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and fold together until incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Fold shredded zucchini and chocolate chips into the batter.
- Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared liners of the cupcake pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top of the muffins. To make this easier, you can use an ice cream scoop instead of a spoon.
- Get an adult to put the muffins into the oven. Bake for 15 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Get an adult to remove cupcakes from the oven and place them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
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