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Whole wheat chocolate veggie muffins are delicious bite sized morsels loaded with veggies that kids and adults can both enjoy. I try to be upfront with my toddler about feeding him veggies because I want him to develop healthy eating habits. But that does not mean I’m opposed to giving him a chocolate muffin that is actually chock full of zucchini and carrots. Hey, if I am going to hide spinach in my morning smoothie, I can sneak some veggies into his muffins!

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Baking for a Toddler

Being a stay at home mom, I have the task, I mean luxury, of making as much of Ben’s food from scratch as I can. When he started eating purees, I made all of that in giant batches and froze huge amounts at once. Thank goodness that’s over, but I still search Pinterest for healthy toddler food options. And that’s where I found these Whole Wheat Chocolate Veggie Muffins.

I saved this recipe from Bare Feet on the Dashboard a millenia ago, but I’ve only just made them. I make a lot of “toddler recipes” and they don’t always turn out super awesome. But I loved these and so did Ben! My Mini Blueberry Muffins were inspired by a bland toddler muffin recipe, but I was pretty satisfied with the Chocolate Veggie Muffins I made with this recipe.

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Baking + Distracted = Bad

For some reason, I was super scatterbrained the day I made these. No idea why, but I just kept doing stupid things, like draining a tuna can into the bowl I was going to make my tuna salad. When I started gathering my ingredients, instead of placing my three eggs into a glass to cover with warm water (great tip for bringing them to room temperature!), I cracked my first egg into it. Umm, why?

Not a big revelation to anyone, but try not to bake when you’re distracted! Luckily, that was the biggest of my blunders and nothing impacted the Chocolate Veggie Muffins in the end. Do you ever do silly things like that? It’s pretty much the story of my life, so I feel you. Update 6/17/20: Nothing has changed. I just made these muffins again and even shot a YouTube video. You’ll never believe it, but I wasn’t completely prepared.

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Random Chat: Sugar

Let’s do a complete about face and talk about sugar. This might seem random, but as I was making these muffins, I thought, “I need to tell these guys about sugar!”. Why am I blathering on? In the baking world, we consider sugar a wet ingredient and I don’t know if y’all already know this. The original recipe is not very clear or specific and just says to mix the wet ingredients.

When you expose sugar to heat (like when you bake), it melts and becomes liquid, more or less. In contrast, when you expose flour or other typical dry ingredients to heat, they dry out. That’s how I rationalize sugar as a wet ingredient, though this is not based on any culinary expertise. Let me blow your mind though, you measure it with dry measuring cups. Anyways, I just randomly thought that sugar was an interesting contradictory ingredient. Now back to those Chocolate Veggie Muffins…

Making the Chocolate Veggie Muffins

This recipe is pretty standard, but I’ll run you through it. Whisk your wet ingredients together until well combined. I used the back of a spoon to smush out the biggest lumps from the brown sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. You don’t have to sift them all together necessarily, but the cocoa powder should be sifted. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. It’s okay to have some dry spots because you’re not done mixing yet.

Now dump the veggies and chocolate chips into the bowl. The batter is thick, but you’ll need to use a rubber spatula to gently fold in these remaining ingredients. Fold until the veggies are evenly distributed in the batter. Use a small cookie scoop to transfer batter to your mini muffin pan. I had some leftover batter after filling two mini muffin pans, so I made two regular muffins with these silicone baking cups.

Update 6/17/20: Ben loves to use this Green Toys Bake by Shape set. He insists on using it every time we bake!

Related Reading: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Tips for Tasty Chocolate Veggie Muffins

The original recipe by Bare Feet on the Dashboard recommends a stand or hand mixer, and I have to agree. It’s completely possible to make these by hand, but a hand mixer really does help. I also suggest thwacking the muffin pans on the counter 2- 3 times to make sure it settles into the pan nicely.

These Chocolate Veggie Muffins are dense, but not rough like a bran muffin (check this recipe out for a tasty bran muffin!). They have a nice chocolate flavor, without tasting like a naked cupcake. If you add the maca powder, you get an even more complex flavor.

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Flavor Modifications

Apparently, maca powder is a plant based superfood and really awesome for you. To top it off, it has an earthy butterscotch flavor to it. Um hello! Yes I will add your butterscotch superfood powder to my recipe! This is totally optional, but I say, why not add a little more nutritious oomph to your veggie filled muffins? Maca powder is not going to change your world, but it’s worth a go.

No, I don’t mean add booze to your muffins! I made these Chocolate Veggies Muffins with a picky toddler in mind, but Josh and I have been digging into them too. If you’re an adult trying to hide veggies into your food (no shame!), you could jazz this recipe up a bit. Make it mocha flavored with a teaspoon or two of espresso powder. If you want a smoother texture, do half AP flour and half whole wheat flour. Adding peanut butter would be a kid and adult approved choice too.

Enjoy!

Ben is a tough critic who would rather not eat if given the opportunity, but these Chocolate Veggie Muffins were a hit! He’s had three in less than a day, and I can live with that. To tell the truth, I’m pretty sure I’ve had more than he has. Enjoy them with breakfast, a snack on the go, or a toddler pleaser when everything in the house is being rejected. Make sure to pin this recipe for later!