Irresistible Triple Chocolate Surprise Muffins

January 3, 2018

Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate … is there such a thing as too much chocolate?? It is surely a sin for simply posing such a question!

But if your waistline is expanding as much as mine after the holidays, just the mere thought of chocolate is probably torture and counterproductive to all your New Year’s resolutions.

But wait. Did I mention that these are surprise muffins?? Before I tell you, just look at these delectable delights …

I mean, just look at all the chocolatey goodness emanating from this delectable delight.

There are multiple allergies in my house. So following any recipe can be difficult to adapt. Not to mention my toddler is well into his “I don’t want to eat anything but chicken nuggets and PBJ’s” phase. And where does he get his veggies?? Baby food pouches if I’m lucky. So, I’m always looking for ways to hide vegetables in his food.

Enter the surprise muffins: They have a 1/2 serving of fruits and a 1/2 serving of vegetables in EACH muffin!

Don’t look now, son. You’re really eating vegetables hidden within chocolatey goodness!

OK, I had to bribe my 3-year-old with three muffins just to get him to sit and pose for nearly 1,000 pictures to get this one “good” one. But it’s OK! Because he’s finally eating his veggies and has no idea. That is, my friends, what we call a #momwin. So, these could alternately be called #momwinmuffins. Feel free to make that hashtag go viral. 😉

Not only is this recipe literally irresistible and filled with good stuff, it is also allergy-friendly and free of the top “Big 8” allergens (when made with chocolate coconut milk and gluten-free flour). So, I also feel very comfortable sharing with all my neighbors, knowing that it’s safe to bring into their houses and yummy for their tummies.

I like to zest my veggies to make the pieces smaller, but a cheese grater works just as well! You can use any combination of veggies you have on hand, but I’ve found the best is zucchini, sweet potato, and carrot. Be sure to peel them and shred them raw! They’ll cook in the oven inside the muffins.

This also is a big recipe because I make a bunch to share and a bunch to keep. If you don’t have anyone to share with, go make some friends. Or feel free to cut the recipe in half. As written, it will make 24 regular muffins, 48 mini-muffins, or a combination of both if you’re like me and only have one pan of each size.

Because of their dark color, these muffins can be hard to tell by sight when to take them out and test them. These can be finicky, so always err on the side of caution. They’re done the moment a fork comes out clean. Be careful; they overcook easily!

If you’ve made it this far into the post, I probably don’t have to convince you to try these muffins. But let me at least say this: When I decide to keep a full batch for just my family, they barely last til the next day. They may have hidden veggies and be mostly healthy, but the chocolate upon chocolate upon chocolate speaks for itself. It can be made with regular milk or without chocolate chips, but why?

So this recipe is healthy, delicious, and it’s actually pretty easy to make too! And if you make a full, big batch, it will give your family breakfast for a week! That is, if they can resist eating the whole batch that day …

*This recipe was inspired from “Chocolate Zucchini Muffins” on The Happy Herbivore‘s meal planner. If you’re looking for more allergy-friendly recipes or to-die-for vegan sweets and treats, Lindsay Nixon will hook you up.