We were invited to a Valentine’s Day art playgroup yesterday and I decided to take along some of Happy Herbivore’s chocolate zucchini muffins.  My love affair with kale was taken to a whole other level with these muffins.  I’ve been plotting for some time to sneak some into a baked good of some sort and I’ve finally done it successfully!  I did make a few changes to the original recipe:

1. I doubled the recipe.
2. I used half whole wheat pastry flour and half all-purpose flour.
3. I used 3 bananas instead of 2.
4. I used 3/4 cup of applesauce and 1/4 cup canola oil.
5. I grated the zucchini, then pulsed it in my food processor with 3 small kale leaves which had been finely chopped.
6. I added 1/2 – 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips.

When I first made these, Emma didn’t care too much for them and I think it was due to the texture.  Being fat free and made with whole wheat pastry flour does give the muffins a slightly grainy texture, which is why I opted to use half a-p flour and add in a bit of fat.  The result was great– Emma ate 5 (minis) the day I made them.  All of the kids at the party loved them, so did the parents.  Success!

Another thing that probably made these go over so well with Emma is the addition of the frosting on top.  I made a very basic buttercream (Earth Balance and powdered sugar) then added in a puree of strawberries, beets and 2 TB strawberry jam.  It didn’t taste overly stawberry-y or beet-y; it just had a nice pink tint without using FD&C Red #1 or some other probably carcinogenic chemical food dye.