Protein Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

A person with long brown hair and red nail polish holds a large chocolate muffin with a gooey center, sprinkled sea salt, and smiles in the background—perfect for anyone craving delicious chocolate muffins or protein muffins.

5 from 6 votes

Protein Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Inspired by the famous Olympic muffins from 2024, these protein zucchini chocolate muffins will keep you fueled and happy! These have a chocolate ganache filling that is to die for, packs in 16g of protein, and 5g of fiber. You just need 30 minutes to whip these moist muffins up and you'll enjoy a gluten-free snack or breakfast all week.

Servings: muffins

Calories: 371kcal

Author: Mika Kinney

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
1.5 cups fine blanched almond flour see notes for nut-free options
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup hemp hearts
¼ cup oat flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

1 zucchini medium-sized (about 1.5 cups pressed lightly into a measuring cup after squeezing dry)
⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt 5.3 oz or Siggis plant based
2 eggs
¼ cup coconut oil virgin, melted or butter
⅓ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup chocolate chips semi-sweet, dairy free as needed

Filling Ingredients

¾ cup chocolate peanut butter use nut free as needed or just regular peanut butter
3 tablespoon milk soy milk preferred
1 pinch flaky sea salt for finishing

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare your muffin tin with liners (if needed). If using a silicone tin, then no need for liners. Shred the zucchini (I use a cheese grater). Use a paper towel to dry shredded zucchini and squeeze out excess moisture. Melt the coconut oil in a small bowl in the microwave.
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: ½ cup coconut sugar, 1.5 cups fine blanched almond flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¾ cup hemp hearts, ¼ cup oat flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients: 1 zucchini (shredded), ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt, 2 eggs, ¼ cup coconut oil (melted), and ⅓ cup pure maple syrup. Fold together until just combined. We don't want to overmix! Once combined, add the ½ cup chocolate chips and fold together again.
Scoop muffin batter into 12 muffin tin spots and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then, remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. They will continue to bake, so letting them cool is essential to ensure they set up!
While the muffins cool, make the ganache filling by melting the ¾ cup chocolate peanut butter for 30 seconds in the microwave, then mix with 3 tablespoon milk.
Use a spoon to scoop out the center of the muffins and fill with about 1 tablespoon of chocolate ganache filling. Finish with flaky sea salt and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Storage: These muffins are best kept in an airtight container in the fridge. They will last for up to 5 days this way. Or, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. Just let them thaw in the fridge overnight.

Nut-free options: You can swap the almond flour for quinoa flour or oat flour. However, oat flour reacts more like all-purpose flour and has less fat than almond flour, so you will also need to add probably only 1.25 cups of it in place of the almond flour.

Nutrition