Chocolate Chai Zucchini Muffins

Do you ever get a recipe idea in your head that you just can’t shake? That’s how I felt about these chocolate chai zucchini muffins – once I dreamed up the idea, I couldn’t stop thinking about them! Chocolate and chai are delicious together and I had a feeling that they’d make an especially delicious treat when added to zucchini muffins.

Peak zucchini season is over, but it took me a few tries to perfect this recipe. Luckily, zucchini is pretty easy to find year-round.

The first time I attempted these muffins, I used chai concentrate but, unfortunately, the flavor didn’t come through. The second time the flavor was spot-on, but the muffins were too dry. The third time, I finally nailed it. The chocolate and chai flavors are nicely balanced, and the muffins are moist and cakey. I love that they’re healthy enough for breakfast, but decadent enough for dessert.

To help keep the calories in these chocolate chai zucchini muffins down, I used Zing™ Baking Blend, a combination of stevia leaf extract and cane sugar with just 5 calories per serving. It bakes and browns like sugar so you get perfectly golden cakes and cookies with fewer calories. You can easily use Zing™ Baking Blend in recipes by replacing the sugar with half as much of this sweetener, but since you use less there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, it will decrease the volume of your batter slightly (that’s why these are a little smaller than the oversized muffins I usually make.) Also, since the sweetener doesn’t add moisture to baked goods the same way sugar does, you’ll want to add an extra egg or 1/4 cup more liquid to your recipe. For these muffins, that’s as simple as not needing to squeeze the extra moisture out of the zucchini. I also found the using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil gave the muffins a better texture. You can see more tips for baking with Zing™ Baking Blend here.

Chocolate Chai Zucchini Muffins

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Servings: 12

Author: Lauren Keating

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Ingredients

• ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 bags spiced chai
• 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup coconut oil melted
• 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons Born Sweet® Zing™ Baking Blend
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 medium zucchini shredded
• 2 Tablespoons chocolate chips optional

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray it with cooking spray.
• In a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk over medium heat until it's lukewarm. Add the tea bags. Remove from heat and let steep 5 minutes. Discard the bags.
• Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
• In a second bowl, combine the chai, coconut oil, Zing™ baking blend, and vanilla. One at a time, whisk in the eggs. Stir in the zucchini.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling each cup 3/4 of the way to the top. If desired, top each muffin with a few chocolate chips.
• Bake 22-25 minutes.