Vegan Chocolate Muffins: The Secret to Softening Them

We all want to bake tall, fluffy muffins. But if you're vegan, everything becomes more difficult: how do you replace milk, eggs, butter, and sugar? Today I'll show you my secret ingredient, so hold on tight!

It's zucchini ! Surprised? You shouldn't be, it's not the first vegetable to creep into pastry: we're already used to using carrots or pumpkins. But maybe you've never considered zucchini.

Although zucchini is available year-round in the supermarket, its peak season is spring and summer. It's highly versatile and can be eaten raw, fried, grilled, steamed, baked, or boiled. Nutritionally, it's approximately 95% water, low in sugar, very little fat, and minimal in calories, making it suitable for both diuretic purposes and low-calorie diets. It's easily digestible (though its digestibility depends on the cooking method chosen, as it absorbs a lot of seasoning), and is recommended for those with digestive issues and helps regulate intestinal problems.
It's rich in potassium, but also contains phosphorus, calcium, iron, and manganese. It also contains vitamins A, C, and some B vitamins (including folic acid).

In our recipe, we will exploit two aspects of the courgette:

• the delicate taste that does not alter the flavour of our preparation
• the softness it gives to the dessert, as a substitute for butter and eggs.

Eggs and butter are two important ingredients in desserts because they add volume, softness, and moisture. Often, in desserts made without animal products, these two ingredients are replaced with banana or avocado, but these too are somewhat extreme, high in sugar and fat. Zucchini, on the other hand, precisely because of its characteristics, adds softness without weighing it down, and our muffins will be soft, perfectly moist, neither dry nor sticky.

To sweeten, we won't use sugar, either white or brown, but instead use raisins, dates, and clear apple juice (no added sugar). That is, just fruit.

The recipe is quick and easy, so let's get to the kitchen and make these muffins! (Which, incidentally, are a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables without them realizing it.)

• 200g Type 2 flour (I used stone-ground Gentil Rosso ancient wheat flour)
• 50g ground hazelnuts
• 30g bitter cocoa
• 2 tbsp cream of tartar yeast
• 1/2c baking soda
• 1c cinnamon
• 60g raisins
• 60g pitted dates (about 6-7 dates)
• 1.5g ground flaxseed
• 1T grated courgettes
• 1/3T apple juice
• 1/4T corn oil
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 60g 70% extra dark chocolate
• 100g soy milk

Legend
T = Cup
C = Spoon
c = Teaspoon

• First, turn on the oven and preheat to 170°C.
• In a large bowl, sift the flour and the powdered ingredients, add the hazelnuts and a pinch of salt (1) .
• Pour the flax seeds and warm water into a small bowl and let them sit for 10-15 minutes to form the typical mucilage; this ingredient is used in place of the egg.
• In a blender, blend the raisins and dates with the apple juice until smooth. Add the remaining liquid ingredients and half the soy milk, and pulse 2-3 times to combine.
• Squeeze the grated courgette (without overdoing it) to remove excess liquid and place it in a bowl, then add the mixture obtained with the blender to the courgettes and mix with a spatula.
• Pour the mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients together, incorporating air with the help of a spatula and adding the soy milk necessary to obtain a smooth, soft and frothy mixture but compact enough (not liquid). Finally, also incorporate the chocolate chopped with a knife into small pieces (2) .

4oitu4it4ihrgg4g

• Use a muffin pan or silicone muffin cups, grease lightly with a brush, or place paper cups in the molds. Using an ice cream scoop, portion the mixture until it runs out, making approximately 12 muffins (3) .
• Bake in a preheated static oven at 170°C for approximately 25 minutes, then test with a toothpick and, if necessary, continue cooking for another 5-8 minutes.
• Leave to cool and enjoy lukewarm (4) .