Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

It's summer, and that means if you garden or shop at farmers' markets you probably have zucchini coming out of your ears. We've got a solution for some of your zucchini riches, and it involves chocolate.

You only need to heat up the kitchen for a little while to have snacks/breakfast for the week with this tasty and relatively healthy recipe from SFDC board member and food educator, Ibti Vincent.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups flour (all-purpose, whole wheat pastry, or all-purpose gluten-free)

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 ½ tsp baking soda

• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• ¾ tsp salt

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• ½ cup apple sauce

• ¼ cup vegetable or olive oil

• ¼ cup milk

• juice from 1 lemon

• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

• 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini

• ¾ cup chocolate chips

• handful of nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Generously grease 18 muffin cups (or use paper cup liners).

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. These are your "dry" ingredients.

4. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, apple sauce, vegetable oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla. These are your "wet" ingredients.

5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

6. Gently stir in zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts (if using).

7. Fill prepared muffin cups, splitting batter evenly between them.

8. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Loosen muffins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.