Chocolate Zucchini Cakes

These cupcakes are delicious! What's better, picky teenagers will eat them without any suspicion that they contain something good for them. The addition of cinnamon, and the chocolate chips inside (which my husband refers to as "flavor bombs"), as well as the zucchini, of course, make these chocolatey cupcakes so much better than plain old chocolate (which isn't to say that plain old chocolate isn't delicious!).

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I use dark chocolate)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sour cream
½ cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
3 eggs at room temp
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated (unpeeled) zucchini - I use the Cuisinart to quickly grate them

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the cocoa, baking powder & soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended and fluffy. Mix in vanilla. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Alternately, stir the dry ingredients and the sour cream and milk into the sugar/butter mixture, reserving the last ½ cup of flour mixture.

Mix the grated zucchini and the chocolate chips with the reserved flour mixture, and toss to coat. Fold in the batter, and blend thoroughly. Pour into the lined cupcake tins and bake for about 20 minutes before you start testing them. Could take up to 35 minutes, but be careful not to burn bottoms (I put my cupcake tins on top of cookie sheets to prevent burning).