With the start of the new school year, I’m always trying to come up with easy (yet nutritional) things I can make that can be popped into my kids’ lunchboxes! Today, we’ve partnered with Ripple Foods to share our recipe for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Muffins. Take a look… 

While muffins might seem like a breakfast option, we’ve snuck zucchini into the recipe for added fiber and protein to make this muffin a fun way to enjoy lunch. Add fruit and cheese for a well-rounded mid-day meal. Finally, top it off with a single-serve portion of Ripple Vanilla Milk (which is a great non-dairy option packed with protein and is more sustainable than both dairy and almond milk) that’s easy to enjoy at school. Here’s the recipe for our Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Muffins…

You’ll need:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup Ripple chocolate milk
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup ghee (melted)
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cup grated zucchini (about one medium sized zucchini)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Here’s how:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease muffin tin and set aside.
3. Mix together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
4. In a large bowl, mix together Ripple chocolate milk, ghee, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.
5. Add dry mixture to the wet in the larger bowl and whisk until combined.
6. Grate zucchini.
7. Add zucchini and chocolate chips to the batter.
8. Pour batter into muffin tin and top with a bit of chopped walnut.
9. Bake for about 35 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffin).
10. If you’d like, dust with powdered sugar and finish with chocolate chips.

Both the nuts and chocolate chips are optional. Leave out the chocolate chips if you want it to be a bit more savory. Or subtract the nuts if your kids go to a nut-free school. The best thing is these keep really well so you can make them the night before and pop in a lunchbox for the next day ready to go. And, it makes a great on-the-go snack for yourself, too!

This content is sponsored by Ripple Foods. All opinions are my own.

{Photos by Lily Glass, styling by Julia Wester, recipes by Jess Hong}