Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Yes, this might seem odd, but chocolate and zucchini muffins are delicious! Having just finished a series of recipes featuring zucchini, I had to include these slightly unusual sweet treats. The muffins don't overwhelmingly taste like zucchini, but zucchini does adds a lovely texture to the muffins and keeps them incredibly moist... and who could say no to a little added dose of vegetable in the day?

I really like coming up with different recipes around one ingredient. Not only does it show the wonderful range of produce like zucchini, but it also allows you to play with what's in your fridge. Do you ever buy a basket of zucchini, tomatoes or lemons to use for a specific recipe and then aren't sure what to do with the rest? Well, that used to happen to me a lot, which is why I like to plan a couple recipes around a same ingredient to spice things up a little and make sure not to waste food.

Zucchini Chocolate Muffins(makes 12-14 muffins)
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
7-8 ounces of zucchini (about 2 small zucchinis)
6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4cup of canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
Grate the zucchini and reserve.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, and reserve.
In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, vanilla extract and sugar. Once incorporated, whisk in the flour mixture in small batches. Add the grated zucchini, and chocolate and mix.

Line a muffin pan with liners and add a big ice cream scoop of muffin batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a cooling rack before serving. Enjoy!