My veg patch is doing that thing again where three courgette plants somehow produce enough to feed the whole street, and by late July I'm grating veg into anything that will hold still. These sourdough chocolate zucchini muffins are where a good chunk of that glut goes: double chocolate, properly fudgy, and built on a method that fixes the one thing every other zucchini muffin recipe leaves to chance, moisture. My other courgette muffins go the lemon and poppy seed route or the savoury sourdough cheese courgette muffin route. These go the other way entirely.
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Recipe Highlights
TASTE: Fudgy, deeply chocolatey, with melty pools of chocolate in every bite.
WHAT'S SPECIAL: A squeeze-plus-measured-milk method that gives you the same moist crumb every single batch, instead of guessing based on how watery your courgette turned out to be.
EFFORT LEVEL: Two bowls, one oven temperature, no chilling. In the oven in just over 20 minutes.
SEB'S RATING: Seb isn't really a chocolate-bake person, so the honest verdict came from my dad, who was staying with us that week. The whole batch disappeared within two days. I'd like to say I had no part in that. I did.
Ingredient Notes
Unsweetened cocoa powder: Dutch-processed or natural both work here, the difference is subtle once everything else is this rich. Dutch-process gives a slightly darker colour and mellower flavour; natural cocoa is a touch more acidic and sharper tasting. Either way, sift it, cocoa is a champion clumper and nobody wants a bitter little pocket in an otherwise fudgy muffin.
Bicarbonate of soda: new if you've made my other courgette bakes. It reacts with the acidity in the sourdough discard, and to some extent the cocoa itself, for extra lift and a deeper, more even colour. This batter is heavier than a plain courgette muffin, so don't skip it, the rise depends on it.
Chocolate chips: dark or semi-sweet gives the most grown-up flavour, though milk chocolate works if you're baking for a sweeter tooth. Roughly chopped chocolate melts into bigger, messier pools than chips, no bad thing here.
Sourdough discard: fresh discard keeps the flavour purely chocolatey. Older, tangier discard adds a faint brownie-like edge that, in this recipe, is rather good. Active starter works too, since there's no long fermentation involved, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda do the actual rising.
Milk: its only job is replacing the water squeezed out of the courgette with a measured amount, which is the whole reason these muffins turn out the same every time (more on that below).
Courgette (zucchini): no need to peel it, a coarse grate on a box grater is all it needs. A fine grate turns watery and disappears into the batter without giving any texture back.
Find the full ingredient quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
How To Make Chocolate Sourdough Zucchini Muffins
I wanted something rich enough to eat with a spoon when warm, almost brownie-like, but still recognisably a muffin. My first attempt let the courgette keep its water, the way most recipes tell you to, and came out wet and sunken in the middle. The second batch went the other way: squeezed hard with nothing to replace the lost moisture, and baked up dry and a bit sad.
This method is the one that actually got it right, squeeze the courgette properly, then add back a measured amount of milk instead of leaving it to chance.
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases or grease it well.
2. Coarsely grate the courgette, gather it in a clean tea towel and twist hard over the sink. Squeeze properly, courgette water content varies wildly and the discard and milk bring all the moisture this batter needs.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric hand mixer for around 2 minutes, until pale and creamy.
5. Add the oil, vanilla, sourdough discard and milk, and beat for another 30 seconds until smooth.
6. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet with a rubber spatula, just until combined. A few dry streaks are fine at this stage.
7. Add the grated courgette and chocolate chips, and fold gently until no dry pockets remain. Do not overmix, cocoa batters turn tough even faster than plain ones.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 holes, roughly 95g per hole if you're weighing. Press the extra chocolate chips onto the tops so every muffin looks as chocolatey as it tastes.
9. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Streaks of melted chocolate on the skewer are fine, streaks of wet batter are not, that's the mistake behind most raw-centred chocolate zucchini muffins.
10. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Best eaten slightly warm, while the chips are still molten.
Expert Tips
💧 Squeeze the courgette anyway. Most zucchini muffin recipes tell you not to, relying on the veg for moisture, which is exactly why so many of them turn out different every time depending on how watery that particular courgette was. Here, the measured milk does that job instead, so a properly squeezed courgette is what keeps the crumb consistent batch after batch.
🥄 Sift the cocoa, don't just spoon it in. Cocoa clumps survive folding far more stubbornly than flour does, and a dry cocoa pocket in an otherwise fudgy muffin is a genuinely disappointing bite to hit halfway through.
🔁 Stop mixing as soon as it's combined. Cocoa batters toughen even faster than plain ones once the gluten starts developing, so a few visible streaks before the courgette goes in are nothing to worry about, they'll disappear during the final fold.
👀 Read the skewer correctly. Melted chocolate leaves shiny, dark streaks that wipe fairly clean. Wet batter leaves a thicker, paler smear that clings to the skewer. Confusing the two is the single most common reason people pull these out too early and end up with a raw centre.
⏲️ Revive day-three muffins with 15 seconds in the microwave. It brings the chips back to molten and the crumb back to soft, better than any amount of time spent reheating in the oven.
Variations
Flaky sea salt: a scattering on top before baking gives a proper bakery look and cuts the sweetness nicely.
Espresso powder: a teaspoon stirred into the dry ingredients makes the chocolate taste more like chocolate, with no coffee flavour of its own.
Chocolate orange: rub the zest of an orange into the sugar before beating in the eggs, so the oils release properly rather than just sitting on top of the batter. Very British, very Terry's, and just one option here rather than the whole point of the recipe. Similar to my Sourdough Discard Chocolate Cake that's made with orange infused olive oil.
Black Forest: swap a third of the chocolate chips for dried sour cherries, in the spirit of my Chocolate Cherry Sourdough Bread. The tartness cuts through the fudginess nicely.
Cream cheese swirl: push a teaspoon of sweetened cream cheese into the centre of each muffin before baking, for something closer to a filled cupcake than a muffin.
FAQs
No. Grated courgette has almost no flavour of its own, it's mostly water and a bit of texture, so once it's mixed into a batter this heavy with cocoa and chocolate chips, it disappears completely. It's there for moisture and a softer crumb, not for taste.
Yes, in this recipe specifically. Most zucchini muffin recipes tell you to leave the water in, relying on it to offset the cocoa's dryness. This one squeezes the courgette properly and replaces that water with sourdough discard and a measured 60g of milk instead, so the crumb comes out the same whether your courgette was watery or not.
Yes. There's no long fermentation in this recipe, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda do the rising, so active starter behaves the same as discard here. Use the same weight.
Usually one of three things: an unsqueezed, watery courgette adding too much extra moisture, a misread skewer (streaks of melted chocolate mistaken for wet batter), or an oven that runs cooler than it reads. Squeezing the courgette properly and checking the skewer for batter rather than chocolate streaks solves most cases.
Storage & Freezing
Keep the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, they stay properly moist thanks to the discard and the measured milk. To freeze, wrap the cooled muffins individually and freeze for up to 3 months.
A 15-second blast in the microwave brings the chips back to melty and the crumb back to soft, straight from frozen or thawed, no need to wait for them to come to room temperature first.
More Sourdough Chocolate Recipes
If this has you reaching for the cocoa tin again, there's more to bake through. My Chocolate Sourdough Bread takes the same double-chocolate idea into a proper loaf, while Sourdough Discard Chocolate Cake is the one to reach for when you want something closer to a torte or ran out of eggs. For a smaller bake, my Triple Chocolate Sourdough Cookies never disappoint!
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Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Courgette Muffins)
Equipment
- 12 paper muffin cases (or grease the tin well)
Ingredients
- 220 g (8 oz) courgette (zucchini), coarsely grated
- 200 g (1⅔ cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 50 g (½) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 175 g (¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) light brown sugar
- 2 eggs large
- 110 g (½ cup) neutral oil, like vegetable or sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 120 g (~½ cup) sourdough discard, 100% hydration
- 60 g (4 tablespoon) milk
- 150 g (heaping ¾ cup) dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a small handful extra for the tops
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases or grease it well.
- Using a box grater, coarsely grate the courgette, place it in the centre of a clean tea towel, gather the corners and twist over the sink to squeeze out the excess moisture. Squeeze properly, the discard and milk bring all the moisture this batter needs. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Sifting matters here, cocoa powder is a champion clumper.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric hand mixer for approximately 2 minutes, until the mixture turns pale and creamy.
- Add the oil, vanilla, sourdough discard and milk, and beat for another 30 seconds.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined (a few dry streaks are fine at this point).
- Add the grated courgette and chocolate chips, and fold gently until no dry pockets remain. Do not overmix, cocoa batters turn tough even faster than plain ones.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 holes (roughly 95g per hole if you're weighing). Press the extra chocolate chips onto the tops so every muffin looks as chocolatey as it tastes.
- Bake for 24-26 minutes, until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Streaks of melted chocolate on the skewer are fine, streaks of wet batter are not.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Best eaten slightly warm, while the chips are still molten
Notes
Nutrition
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