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Keto Chocolate Zucchini Muffins Recipe Topped With Cacao Nibs
There’s a cardboard box in my closet with a paper sign taped on it. “Free zucchini,” it says.
That sign is a charming reminder of my initial foray into gardening.
You see, when you live in a temperate climate with nice sandy soil, squash does quite well. So when you plant more than one, two, or three zucchini plants you’re probably going to be in for quite a lot of squash.
But I did better than that. Try twelve.
Yes, you’re probably shaking your head and laughing, but my neighbors weren’t complaining.
There simply comes a point where a person cannot eat any more zucchini no matter what it’s baked, blended, or noodled into. So when my prolific plants started delivering more squash than I could eat and my co-workers refused any more, I had to get creative.
So down to the road I went with dozens of zucchini and a box with a sign.
If I would have had this keto chocolate zucchini muffins recipe topped with cacao nibs, perhaps things would have been a little different.
How to Make Chocolate Muffins on Keto
Nothing about chocolate muffins sounds keto. In fact, it sounds like a high-carb nightmare that will derail ketosis in an instant.
Not these muffins.
There are some important modifications you must make for these muffins to be OK to eat without shaking you out of ketosis.
Zucchini, of course, is a great food to eat on keto. It’s mostly water, so it will bulk up your baked goods and help take the place of the flours and sugars that are so problematic.
The trick with zucchini is to make sure you remove as much water as possible. You can salt the grated squash and let it sit and drip through a colander.
Squeezing out excess with a clean cloth is another option. You may have to go through a couple rounds of this to get it dry enough for the batter.
I replaced all-purpose flour with almond flour. This dense, nutty flour is delicious in muffins, and I love it paired with chocolate.
About the chocolate…I actually use cacao powder to achieve the chocolatey taste.
Cacao vs Cocoa Powder
They’re spelled similarly, but there’s an important difference: the way they are processed.
Cocoa is heated at higher temperatures, which results in a sweeter product. The heat, unfortunately, reduces its nutritional content.
Cacao, on the other hand, involves unroasted cacao beans that are cold pressed. Cacao has more antioxidant firepower.
Since you’re investing in cacao powder and this probably won’t be your last round of keto baked goods, here is a nice list of keto chocolate recipes.

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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
- Mix together all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour into muffin pans (use silicone muffin pans or grease the metal pans). Makes 12 muffins.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when you insert it into a muffin.
Notes
All nutritional data are estimated and based on per serving amounts.
Net Carbs: 2 g
Nutrition
- Calories: 169
- Sugar: 1 g
- Fat: 15 g
- Carbohydrates: 5 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g