Wondering what to do with that seemingly endless supply of fresh summer zucchini? Rather than letting a single one go to waste, turn your surplus zucchini into something truly spectacular. These super-moist, chocolaty zucchini bread muffins are incredibly tender, packed with rich chocolate flavor, and surprisingly simple to whip up. The secret to their incredible moisture and taste lies in a box of chocolate instant pudding and pie filling, combined with fresh grated zucchini, eggs, oil, and a few everyday baking ingredients. Get ready to transform your summer harvest into sweet, decadent, chocolate chip-studded muffins that are so good, no one will even care that they’re made with zucchini.
A few years ago, after making these Vanilla Pudding Zucchini Bread Muffins, I decided that a chocolate version of these muffins was an absolute must. Now, one would think that to make this chocolate muffin recipe a reality, swapping in a box of chocolate instant pudding and pie filling in place of the vanilla instant pudding and pie filling would be a no-brainer. Well, you know what? The good folks at JELL-O would apparently disagree. I assumed that every flavor of instant pudding would be the same exact size. Not so, y’all. Apparently, I am a fool.
While the average box of vanilla instant pudding weighs 3.4-oz., the average box of chocolate instant pudding weighs 3.9-oz. Why? Who the heck knows. The “wise” internet explains that when it comes to instant pudding, packaging sizes can vary by brand, but usually, a small box of instant pudding typically weighs between 3.4 and 4.2-oz. This size is designed to make 4 servings, depending on the preparation instructions provided. So, to make up for the additional .5-oz. of chocolate instant pudding mix, I simply added two additional tablespoons of half and half, as well as a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
My thought process? If all else failed, at least there would be chocolate in the equation. And let’s be honest. We all know that chocolate is pretty much the cure for any annoyance in life. In this case, that annoyance would be the JELL-O brand and its failure to standardize the sizing of all of its instant pudding flavors. P.S. Just in case you were wondering, white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling is only 3.3-oz. However, almost every other flavor, including pistachio, butterscotch, lemon, cheesecake, and coconut cream, still weigh in at 3.4-oz. Y’all, I’m convinced that JELL-O is just making shit up to fuck with us.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 (3.9-oz.) Box Chocolate Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
- 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Additional for Decoration)
- 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Half & Half
- 1/2 Cup Avocado, Canola, or Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 1 1/2 Cups Grated Zucchini, Lightly Packed
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, pudding, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Fold the chocolate chips into the flour mixture to coat.
- Add the half and half, oil, eggs, vanilla, and grated zucchini. Stir to combine until there are no more streaks of flour throughout the batter.
- Line a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cups. Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the muffin batter evenly between the paper muffin cups.
- Sprinkle a few additional chocolate chips on top of each muffin for decoration.
- Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before gently removing them from the muffin tin and transferring them to a baking rack to cool completely.
Suggestions:
- Folding the chocolate chips into the flour mixture before adding the wet ingredients will ensure that they do not sink to the bottom of the muffins while baking.
- You can use avocado, canola, or vegetable oil for this recipe. They are all neutral oils. I used avocado oil because I am not a fan of canola oil. To me, it always tastes rancid.
- The original vanilla pudding recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of vanilla. I only used 1 tablespoon of vanilla for this chocolate version because I felt that it wasn’t necessary to add as much flavoring.
- There is no need to wring any moisture out of the zucchini for this recipe. The moisture in the zucchini is needed to make these muffins moist.
- Do not overmix the muffin batter. Stir the batter until there are no longer any streaks of flour throughout it.
- After cooling, store the muffins in an airtight container.
- This recipe will yield approximately 1 dozen muffins.
Improvements:
- Replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate chips.
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the muffin batter.
- Instead of adding chocolate chips to the muffin batter, top these muffins with a simple chocolate glaze. Sift 1 cup of powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder together. Whisk 4 tablespoons of heavy cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract into the powdered sugar and cocoa mixture until smooth. Whisk milk into the glaze 1 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is smooth and easy to spoon or drizzle over the chocolate muffins.
- If you enjoy these chocolate muffins, make sure to check out our recipe for this Chocolate Pudding Zucchini Bread.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 (3.9-oz.) Box Chocolate Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
- 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Additional for Decoration)
- 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Half & Half
- 1/2 Cup Avocado, Canola, or Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 1 1/2 Cups Grated Zucchini, Lightly Packed
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, pudding, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Fold the chocolate chips into the flour mixture to coat.
- Add the half and half, oil, eggs, vanilla, and grated zucchini. Stir to combine until there are no more streaks of flour throughout the batter.
- Line a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cups. Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the muffin batter evenly between the paper muffin cups.
- Sprinkle a few additional chocolate chips on top of each muffin for decoration.
- Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before gently removing them from the muffin tin and transferring them to a baking rack to cool completely.
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If you love these Chocolate Pudding Zucchini Bread Muffins, make sure to try these Vanilla Pudding Zucchini Bread Muffins. When you have way too many zucchini in your garden and you don’t know what to do with all of them, try making these super-moist zucchini bread muffins. All you need is a box of vanilla pudding mix, some grated zucchini, eggs, oil, and a few other simple ingredients. These sweet, moist, and absolutely delicious vanilla pudding zucchini bread muffins are the perfect way to use up your stash of summer zucchini. CLICK HERE for the recipe.
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Make sure to check out all of the other great Farmer’s Market Week recipes below. A huge thanks to Jolene’s Recipe Journal for hosting this event.
- Blueberry Salad by Art of Natural Living
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