Gluten free chocolate zucchini muffins

Um, hello. YUMMY!

These are perfect! Not too crumbly or dry. Not flat like a hockey puck. Nicely risen just like a muffin should be and they have a silky smooth texture. I did try the original recipe about a year ago as a loaf, and decided to change it up a bit. Sooo good! And all to myself! I made "regular" chocolate zucchini muffins for DH & DD. My house smelled like a chocolate factory :)

Original recipe from Your Homebased Mom. One of her daughters is GF, and I've tried some of her other recipes. She hasn't failed me yet! Great craft and decorating ideas too. Here's my twist on her recipe:

Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar (next time will try 3/4 cup, see if I can get away with less)
2 tsp pure vanilla (some extracts are not GF)
1.5 cups shredded zucchini
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups gluten free flour mix (see below)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup cocoa powder (watch that it is GF, I used Fry's which is from what I can tell)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Add zucchini and stir to combine. On top of liquid add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, and cocoa powder. Again stir to combine.

Scoop into greased 12 cup muffin tin. Batter is a bit on the thin side. I filled the cups almost full (half way between 3/4 and full, haha) and they did not overflow. Batter overflowing is a major stressor since setting my oven on fire a few years back. Whoops.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Yields 12 muffins.

I think the only thing that could make these better would be some chocolate chunks or chips :)

Gluten free flour mix
2 cup white rice flour (I used brown rice this time around, same results if not better!)
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup cornstarch

Mix ingredients slowly in large bowl (kinda dusty). Use what you need for this recipe and store the rest in a container (I use a glass bowl with sealing lid).

Alternatively, Kinnickinnick sells an all-purpose flour substitute that I have had excellent results with for other recipes. For this muffin recipe you would use 1.5 cups of it and omit the xanthan gum (since their blend already includes it). It is a bit on the pricey side at about $5 for a 454 gram box. For the rice and tapioca flours I use Bob's Red Mill brand, and try to only buy it when it's on sale.