Chocolate Cherry Muffins (with a secret ingredient)

For this month's chocolate party, the ingredients are cherries and chocolate.  I really enjoyed the cherry garcia frozen yogurt that I made, but chocolate and cherries are such a great pair that I wanted to try another recipe with them.  Recently I bought frozen dark sweet cherries at whole foods, and they were screaming to be baked into some chocolate muffins.

There is a secret ingredient that makes these muffins super moist.  Have you guessed what it is?  Here are a few hints: it's green.  You can barely see it in the finished muffins.  You might have some growing in your garden.

It's zucchini!!  A grated zucchini keeps these muffins really tender even though they're made with all whole grain flour.  Subbing agave nectar for half the sugar doesn't hurt, either.  The cherries provide a juicy burst of flavor within the rich chocolate muffins.  You are going to love these!  And with fruit AND vegetables, reduced sugar and butter, and whole grain flour, they are practically guilt-free.

Ingredients (makes 12):

1 medium zucchini, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whole grain pastry flour
1/2 cup cocoa (I used Dutch-process)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen sweet cherries, halved

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the cooled butter, agave, milk, egg, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients and the grated zucchini to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Fold in the cherries.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.  Bake for about 20 minutes, until the muffins are domed and set.  Halfway through the baking time, rotate the pans back to front and reduce the oven temperature to 325.

Cool for a few minutes in the tin, and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Want to participate in this month's chocolate party by sharing a treat with chocolate and cherries? Here's how to participate:

1. Blog about your chocolate treat. Your recipe must include the two ingredients we choose (chocolate and cherries for June). It can be a simple no bake treat or a sophisticated layer cake, the complexity level of the recipe is totally up to you.
2. Include a link back to a monthly round-up or the Chocolate party page. Optional, add the Chocolate Party logo in your blog post or on your sidebar. 
3. Your recipe must be published during the current month. Please do not link old recipes, they will be deleted.
4. Add your link on this post.