Grab a Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Muffin on your way out of the house for a quick breakfast or snack. This zucchini bread muffin recipe will transform your favorite summer squash into a dozen delicious treats.

If you haven’t had enough zucchini bread, or simply just have an abundance of zucchini that you can’t wait to consume, these chocolate chip zucchini bread muffins will be perfect for the job. I’m quite partial to muffins because of their size, ideal for one.

You will love these zucchini bread muffins with their moist crumb, soft texture, and melty bits of chocolate chips sprinkled throughout. I like to eat them slightly warm to get the most out of those gooey chocolate chip pockets.

How to make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Muffins

Just like my easy zucchini bread recipe, these muffins are super simple to whip up. First, you will need to prepare the zucchini for the batter.

Prepare the zucchini

You do not need to peel the zucchini before shredding. Leave the skin on for extra nutrition.

Shredding zucchini in a food processor (Photos 1 – 2)

Cut up the zucchini into smaller pieces and put them into the food processor bowl.
Process until the zucchini is all shredded, open the food processor and scrape the side as necessary while it’s chopping up the zucchini.

What if I don’t have a food processor?

You don’t have to have a food processor for this step but it certainly helps make it go quickly. You can shred the zucchini with a box grater or finely chop with a knife.

Do I need to squeeze the zucchini to get rid of excess water?

I did not squeeze the water out from the zucchini when I tested this recipe. The moisture from the zucchini will keep these muffins moist and soft. See Baker’s Tips below for more troubleshooting tips.

Making the chocolate chip zucchini bread batter

Making chocolate chip zucchini bread batter (Photos 3 – 8)

Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, and beat until smooth.
Add brown sugar and whisk again to dissolve in the liquid mixture.
Now add the shredded zucchini and mix to distribute evenly.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in the salt and add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture.
Mix until a chunky batter forms. It’s okay if you have a few streaks of flour left in the batter.
Fold in the chocolate chips. You can reserve some chips to sprinkle on top of the muffins before baking.

Baking zucchini bread muffins (Photos 9 – 10)

Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups, fill it all the way to the top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.

Can I bake this in a loaf pan?

You can bake this chocolate chip zucchini bread in a loaf pan at 350°F for 50 – 60 minutes. Make sure to check the doneness of your bread 5 minutes before you think it will be done and allow it to bake longer if necessary, as oven temperature can vary.

Variations and other add-ins

For my classic zucchini bread, I used a mixture of spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamon. For these muffins, I only used cinnamon along with the chocolate chips. You can omit chocolate chips for the classic version of zucchini bread muffins. Or try the followings:

Try adding chopped walnuts or pecans for a little crunch and contrasting texture like these Banana Nut Muffins. You can add the nuts along with the chocolate chips or in place of the chocolate chips.
Try adding dried fruits instead as a filling. A combination of dried cranberry and orange zest can be a nice variation.
You can also combine dried fruits and nuts as well.
For a brighter version of lemon zucchini bread, you can omit the cinnamon and chocolate chip, and opt for plenty of lemon zest.

Baker’s Tips

You can substitute the buttermilk with plain yogurt, sour cream, or milk + lemon juice in this recipe.
You can use either green or yellow zucchini.
Add or remove spices, replace some or all of the chocolate chips with nuts, dried fruits or a combination of filling to customize your zucchini bread to your liking.

The trouble with sinking zucchini bread…

Having too much moisture will cause zucchini bread to fall, sink, become gooey, and dense. Overmixing or having too much leavening agent could also cause the bread to over-rise and then fall while cooling.

What can cause too much moisture in the batter?

If you use too much shredded zucchini, you will end up with excess moisture because zucchini is made up of more than 90% water.

An example of how this might happen is variation in measurement, my recipe calls for 1 medium zucchini, but what exactly is “medium”? If you end up with a larger “medium” zucchini, you will end up with more water.

How to combat this moisture problem?

This is why I also noted that my medium zucchini is about 8 oz, and yields 1 ¼ cup of shredded zucchini. But 1 ¼ cup can vary too by how much you pack in the shredded zucchini. Mine is very lightly packed. I recommend relying on the weight of the zucchini to be exact.

One other way to control the moisture content of the batter is to squeeze out the water from the zucchini. This is why a lot of recipes will call for this step. BUT…

I did not test my recipe this way, so I don’t recommend squeezing out the liquid from the zucchini. If you do, it can cause your zucchini bread muffins to become too dry. However, I did use a consistent weight measure of zucchini in this recipe each time I tested it.

I suggest weighing your zucchini at the grocery store if you don’t have a scale at home. But I highly suggest investing in a cheap kitchen scale, it will change the way you bake.

Storage

These zucchini bread muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If the weather is particularly warm, you may want to keep it refrigerated and microwave for 10 – 15 seconds before serving if you’d like.

You can also freeze these chocolate chip zucchini bread muffins for up to 3 months. Simply wrap each muffin in plastic and/or foil, and store in a freezer bag. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge overnight and warm it in the microwave before serving if desired.

More muffins for your enjoyment

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, send me a photo, rate it, and don’t forget to tag me @wildwildwhisk on Instagram. I’d love to see what’s cooking up in your kitchen. Cheers!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Muffins