Chocolate Oatmeal Zucchini muffins

If you're like me, sometimes you just need something chocolate....and if you're not like me, then consider yourself blessed. Chocolate has a way of growing it's roots deep! Thankfully I can enjoy a square of dark chocolate that has some benefits to your health. But back to these muffins. If there are muffins baked in my house, there is sure to be a line at the oven. So I needed to come up with a healthy muffin to feel good about my family gobbling up. After all, it does start off with zucchini! Why not just stay on that healthy start. So with the addition of some cocoa and a few chocolate chips, zucchini was the last thing on their minds!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of boiling water

2 cups of grated zucchini

3/4 cup of quick oats

1/2 cup of light olive oil or grapeseed oil

3 eggs

1 TBSP of brewed coffee (or 1 tsp vanilla extract, I love coffee in chocolate)

3/4 cup of unbleached sugar

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (**flour options below)

1/2 cup of cocoa (I use Hershey's Special Dark)

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Any amount of chocolate chips (the muffins may need a bit more sugar if you were to leave the chocolate chips out)

Mix together the zucchini and oats. Pour the boiling water over that and combine. Continue the mixing with the oil, eggs, sugar and coffee. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add in chocolate chips. Mix to combine. Grease muffin tin. Fill almost to the top. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

**** I have used Unbleached White Whole Wheat flour in place of the pastry flour. I have found this at Walmart many times. Regular unbleached flour would be fine too****