Get your fruits, veggies, protein and antioxidants all in one delicious gluten-free and vegan muffin! Great for a healthy snack, breakfast or dessert. Who knew zucchini with chocolate could taste good?

We got our weekly Our Harvest (www.ourharvest.com) farm fresh delivery and were in awe of the beautiful local yellow zucchini and fresh blueberries. Delivery arrived at 7 pm and we just had dinner, but wanted a healthy bite that the kids (and us!) would enjoy. So, we came up with this clean-eating and waist-friendly creation. The kids and my husband ate the entire batch for breakfast! I had it as dessert. Great way to “sneak” in fruits, veggies and protein in your kids diet!

The organic zucchini, blueberries, raw cacao nibs, cacao powder and chia seeds provide a powerhouse amount of antioxidants and vitamins with no artificial sweeteners! The chickpea (garbanzo bean flour) creates a protein punch. We also love that with every bite you can see the yellow zucchini and blueberries! Makes eating whole, clean and REAL food yummy.

Tip: use a mini-muffin BPA free no-stick baking mold for portion control and ease!

Recipe:

*use organic and local if possible

**yields ~27 mini-muffins

  • 1 cup raw zucchini, grated
  • ½ cup of pureed blueberries
  • ¼ cup of maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of gluten-free brown rice flour
  • ¾ cup of gluten free chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour)
  • 1 tsp Himalayan sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 3 tbsp of raw cacao nibs
  • 2 tbsp of cacao powder
  • ½ cup of vegan dark chocolate chips (more if you like!)

Garnish: raw cacao nibs or vegan chocolate chips for more chocolate richness!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and then set aside. In a separate bowl combine all of the liquid ingredients (including the zucchini and blueberries). We used our Vitamix to grate the zucchini and puree the blueberries, but you can also use a hand grater or just “mash” the blueberries with a spoon.

Combine the wet into dry and stir well. Place into muffin tin (use coconut oil to “grease” tin or use a tin that in non-stick). Garnish with cacao nibs or extra chocolate chips (optional, but yummy!).

Bake 20-24 minutes (depending on oven strength). Allow 8-10 minutes to cool before removing muffins from the tin.

ENJOY.

With gratitude and love,

Christine & Stephanie