Tiny Tummies: Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Welcome to the first recipe of my Tiny Tummies series. A series of recipes that will help you nourish your little ones in creative ways without having to battle them every single meal. My goal with these recipes is to keep them short, delicious and easy enough for your kiddo to help out! I feel like feeding my kid is such a rollercoaster nowadays. As a mother I want my kids to have a balanced diet but also get to enjoy food. I realized that lately that the snacks and lazy meals I usually give my son contain a lot of processed ingredients and it's really hard to find clean foods. Now it is not to say I want my kids to eat fully clean, that's not the case - I just want to decrease the amount of processed foods they consume and I know that part of that is cooking/baking these snacks and foods at home. I think now is the perfect time for me to explore more kid friendly recipes, not only because of my kind of picky toddler but also because my 6 month old is starting to eat solids.

Recently I have been struggling BIG time with feeding my toddler, he has found comfort in the beige foods (apples, pasta, rice, chicken nuggets, etc) and I want to change that. My 3 year old has gotten to the age where not only does he have the words to say how much he doesn’t like my cooking (which I take very personal), but also the age in which he thinks anything green or colorful is “yucky”- even though he has not tried it or the fact that he ate broccoli the day before. 

With that being said, I am on a mission to make sure my child gets out of this picky stage and starts enjoying the delicious foods this world has to offer, but in the meantime I have to find ways in which he can get all of his nutrients in recipes that I know he will love. 

So today we start with my first attempt to make healthy muffins, yes there is chocolate but very minimum sugar. These are great for breakfast or as a snack, and they keep very well if frozen. At this age, kids usually get most of their nutrition from snacks as they snack ALL the time, so I am adding zucchini to them, then he gets veggies and fruits in - plus it adds a bit of more moisture to the mix. 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Line your muffin tin with the liners and coat them with some oil spray. 
2. With a paper towel squeeze the zucchini to remove any excess water - this step is very important. Make sure to remove as much moisture as possible
3. In a medium bowl, mix your dry ingredients - Flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. With a whisk combine them all together.
4. In a larger mixing bowl, combine coconut oil, maple syrup, egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
5. Add in zucchini and mashed banana and whisk again until combined
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and slowly combine it until it's all mixed. 
7. Add in the chocolate chips and with a spatula gently fold them in without overmixing the batter. 
8. Divide your batter evenly into 12 in the prepared muffin tin. 
9. Bake them for 20 - 25 mins, do the toothpick test. Insert a toothpick in the thickest muffin and if it comes out clean they’re ready to be taken out, if not cook a few minutes longer. 
10. Let your little one dig in! 

CONCLUSION

As part of this series, I’ll ask my toddler to rate each recipe because at the end of the day I want him to enjoy them, but I will also rate them based on how much he ate.. because really how much can you trust a 3 yr old’s rating haha?

My son really liked these muffins, his rating was 12 out 5 stars - I mean that says it all right? On my side, I would give these 4 out of 5 stars, just because I think it might be too chocolatey (like if that’s possible) so my son would leave like ¼ of it - so next time I’ll try making mini muffins. But overall, it's a very easy and quick recipe and one that even I and my husband loved.

TIPS & TRICKS

• Feel free to use no liners, I personally feel like it locks more moisture in and easy clean up is just an added plus. 
• Use a stand mixer if you have one available and skip the arm workout.
• Involve your kid in the process, I’ve noticed my son is more open to try something.