Happy Monday friends. The boys and I are happy to have one more day off of school for MLK Day, and we are starting the morning off right with coffee (me) and cartoons (them). So I thought I’d pop over here real quick and say hi. I hope your weekend was lovely and that maybe you are in the mood for some muffins! How about these Healthier Zucchini Muffins?
The recipe for these Healthier Zucchini Muffins is inspired by a zucchini bread that my mother-in-law makes and it is absolutely delicious! I shared it way back in 2013. I wanted to see if I could make a slightly healthier version and make it into muffins instead of a loaf. It took me a few tries because I cut out too much of the sugar at first – but I think these are just right with lots of grated zucchini, a little bit of spice, and just a touch of sweetness.
If some muffins are really just cupcakes without frosting pretending to be a muffin, these lean more toward the true muffin category.
They are pretty easy to pull together – you can mix them by hand or with an electric mixer. In addition to decreasing the amount of sugar called for in the original recipe, I also substituted half of the oil with applesauce. This still keeps the muffins moist and sweetens them naturally.
I love how their muffin tops are nice and puffy. I fill each muffin liner almost to the top of the muffin well and keep the batter a little on the thick side so that it has the structure needed to bake up nice and tall without spilling over the top.
Another little tip, even though I line each muffin well with a paper liner, I spray a little nonstick spray into the muffin liner so that they come off really easily once they are baked. I hate loosing half of my muffin to the liner! Have a great week friends, and happy baking.
PrintHealthier Zucchini Muffins
These Healthier Zucchini Muffins are just right with lots of grated zucchini, a little bit of spice, and just a touch of sweetness.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 18 muffins 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and prepare a muffin tin by placing paper liners in each well. Spray each liner with nonstick spray to keep the muffins from sticking.
- In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla extract. You can do this by hand, or with an electric mixer. Fold in grated zucchini and then set the bowl aside.
- In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini batter until it is just fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Scoop the batter into each muffin well, filling it almost to the top. Bake the muffins for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Transfer the muffins from the muffin tin to a cooling rack. When completely cool, store in an airtight container.
Notes
*For this recipe, you could use all-purpose flour, a mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat flour, or a white whole wheat flour. They will be slightly more dense in texture with the whole wheat flour.
Here’s a little information on the difference between these flours that I found interesting!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Muffin
- Calories: 222
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 193mg
- Fat: 7.2g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 36g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3.7g
- Cholesterol: 31mg
Hi, Do you peelthe zucchini ? Also, you you set the zucchini out on paper towels to drain some of their moisture out. Thank you
Hi Susan, I did not peel the zucchini. I like the little flecks of green it adds to the muffin, and there is no need to drain excess moisture… I hope you enjoy!
How can this recipe be converted to gluten-free, like your marvelous pumpkin muffins? Best I’ve made!
Hi Karen, I’m not exactly sure how to make these gluten free. Sorry I’m not more helpful with that!
Hey there! I made these last Sunday for my husband and I to take to work all week, and they are gone. I froze most of them, and they thawed perfectly, with just a few seconds in the microwave to warm them up. I am always on the hunt for a perfect muffin, and this is a keeper! The addition of zucchini is wonderful! I didn’t have quite the amount of applesauce that was needed, so I subbed in some greek yogurt. A+!
Good idea to freeze them, Whitney! Thanks so much for letting me know how yours worked out.