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These Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes will blow your minds! Soft, sweet, moist! The Poured Chocolate Frosting will make you want to never pipe frosting onto cupcakes again! This stuff is what dreams are made of. Basically like a cross between my Zucchini Brownies and Chocolate Cupcakes. YUM!
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes |A Chocolate Delight
These chocolate zucchini cupcakes with poured chocolate frosting…Lemme tell you, will change your life. They taste as chocolatey and sweet as they look and are pretty fast to throw together 🙂 Shredding the zucchini a little finer, wringing it out and then stirring it into the cake batter keeps these cupcakes moist while going mostly undetected because of all that cocoa powder. So delicious!
Main Ingredients Needed
Start by gathering up these ingredients to make these incredible Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes:
For the Cupcakes
- Butter + Vegetable oil – to flavor and moisten.
- Sugar – to sweeten.
- Vanilla + Cocoa Powder – two flavoring ingredients. Vanilla is more subtle while the unsweetened cocoa powder makes these cupcakes chocolatey.
- Egg – used for structure and texture.
- Sour Cream – for creamy texture.
- Baking Soda+ Baking Powder – to help the cupcakes rise.
- Salt – to balance out all the flavors.
- Flour – this fills out the cupcakes.
- Zucchini – for its high moisture content. Be sure to wring out with paper towels before adding to the batter.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – to sweeten and to add more chocolatey goodness.
For the Frosting
- Butter – for flavor.
- Chocolate Syrup – for that chocolatey flavor (I used Hershey’s brand).
- Milk – for a pourable consistency.
- Vanilla – for flavor.
- Powdered Sugar – to sweeten and to thicken the frosting.
- Sprinkles (optional) – add some red and white sprinkles for festive Valentine’s Day cupcakes.
How to Make Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes |Directions
For full details on how to make Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes, see the recipe card down below 🙂
Step 1: Preheat Oven + Grate Zucchini
Preheat the oven.
Wash and grate zucchinis. Wring out excess water and set aside. I used my stand mixer and grater attachment, but a manual box grater will do the job as well. Line muffin tins with paper liners and set them aside.
Step 2: Mix
Add butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, egg, and sour cream in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Scrape sides of the bowl and stir again to ensure even mixing. Stir in grated zucchini and chocolate chips.
Step 3: Fill Muffin Tins + Bake
Scoop into lined muffin tins bake until completely cooked.
Step 4: Make Frosting
Once cupcakes come out of the oven, melt butter, chocolate syrup and milk together in a small saucepan. Once butter has melted and mixture has come to a light bubble, remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth.
Spoon over warm cupcakes and top with sprinkles if desired. I was a little heavy-handed, but that is not a bad problem to have. #Ilovechocolate
After everything cools, the tops start to harden slightly and they become even more amazing!
Want More Cupcake Recipes to Try? Check These Out:
- Double Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream
- Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes with Easy Vanilla Frosting
- Oreo Cupcakes
Overall, a great treat for Valentine’s Day!
The printable recipe card is below. Enjoy 🙂
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Poured Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
for the cupcakes
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar + 6 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups zucchini grated and wrung out
- 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
for the frosting
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup hershey’s chocolate syrup
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Using a food processor or box grater, grate 1-2 small zucchinis. Wring out excess water and set aside. Line muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
- Stir butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, egg and sour cream in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Scrape sides of bowl and stir again to ensure even mixing. Stir in grated zucchini and chocolate chips.
- Scoop into lined muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until completely cooked.
- Once cupcakes come out of the oven, melt butter, chocolate syrup and milk together in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Once butter has melted and mixture has come to a light bubble, remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Spoon over warm cupcakes and top with sprinkles if desired. Serve.
I am craving white chocolate and cranberry biscotti so I’ll probably start by making that.
I would love to make these cupcakes with this awesome KitchenAid mixer! Besides, it would look great in my kitchen and would get a lot of use. I love to bake!
I would make lots of cookies!
I would have to see how it works for my strawberry shortcake. I think it would be a lot easier than hand slicing.
I love reading your blog and i think yourv recipes are fantastic.the mixer is a great
prize!
My first project with that mixer would be my daughter’s second birthday cake 🙂
Holy Cow those chocolate cupcakes look yummy! I also have grated zucchini in the freezer, so I think I will have to try this recipe out with my new mixer. 😉
I’m a baker – so some sort of cookies
I would love to try making bread.
These look delicious!! Would love to own this mixer and make these cupcake!
That mixer is so beautiful! I think I would break it in making your cupcakes 🙂
Bread Dough! Lots of it! Cupcakes! Lots of them! And with the attachment, it would make my life so much easier when home cooking for our senior hound dawg! No more chopping and slicing all his veggies by hand every Sunday!!!! 🙂
Pretzels!
I would love to try making these cupcakes. But also, bread, cookies… The list is endless.
This KitchenAid Mixer/Food Processor is absolutely dreamy! & I can’t wait to try this recipe! Valentine’s Day is close enough…think I will make some tonight.
my first order of business would be chocolate chip cookies!
I would make my wold famous whipped shortbread… and with the attachment, why, coleslaw of course!
These look amazing! I LOVE zucchini but if you can believe it, I’ve never baked with it! I think I’d make some zucchini loaf of some sort… and probably these cupcakes too! Your photos are beautiful!
Everything with chocolate!!!
I would make chocolate mousse with whipped cream 🙂
These would be a great way to sneak veggies into my kids’ diets without the fuss. I’ll have to give these a try.
i would want to make a cherry cheesecake
If I had a stand mixer, it might be the kick I need to start making my own bread doughs!
I would make my favorite soft sugar cookies, followed by more cookies! Then I’d use the food processor attachment and make healthy zucchini bread.
Everything! I would start with a yummy German chocolate cake.
Great giveaway! I’d make these cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies 🙂
cookies! Lots and lots of cookies!!
I’d make my husband’s favorite dark chocolate layer cake with mocha frosting.
bread bread and more bread 🙂 Then throw something chocolate into the mixer like brownies..yum!
owning a kitchenaid is my DREAM!!! i’d start off by making those cupcakes 🙂
Carrot cake!
I make HUGE batches of whole grain chocolate chip cookies. If I make them when the kids are at school I even get one or two. 😉
Is it too easy to say these cupcakes? Because I would!
cake!!!!
What wouldn’t I make ?!?! I’d loovvve a new Kitchen Aid!!!
I would be making my amazing Carrot Cake!
I would totally make these cupcakes! I would love this because I can finally stop using the handheld shredder!
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes or as a loaf
You would make everything with it, right?
Always wanted a mixed like this!!
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes, of course. But also Lemon Crinkle Cookies because they are my favorite cookie in the entire world.
Oh my goodness, these cupcakes would be first! My kids would love to come home from school to these babies, I would earn some major mom points!
I would start with the Chocolate Zucchini Cupcake recipe you posted. Then I would move on to shredding anything edible I could get my hands on because the attachment is so darn cool!
cookies for sure!
Marshmallows!!!!!!
I have my all of my mothers old recipes. I have been trying to get by with an old hand mixer so everything comes to mind! These cupcakes look yummy! Cant wait to try therm.
I would make these cupcakes to start, I haven’t had zucchini in baked goods since I was a kid & my boys never had but they love chocolate, so this recipe is perfect to sneak in those veggies!!
I’ve got an almost 15 year old (sob!) and there is a birthday cake to be made! A KitchenAid would be the perfect way for both of us to celebrate!!
I don’t know what I will make , millons of things came to my mind :), but one thing for sure, it is going to look great in my kitchen.XOXO
I have so many things in mind! Using the slicing blade to make potato gallettes, or scalloped potatoes, comes to mind…..