Zucchini Muffins
This easy zucchini muffins recipe is naturally dairy free and makes perfectly fluffy, moist muffins. They’re a great way to use up all your summer zucchini.
Why I love these zucchini muffins
I have great plans for all the zucchini coming this summer. I know it’s a little bit early, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this amazing zucchini muffin recipe. Since it’s oil based (rather than butter), I didn’t even have to swap anything out to make them dairy free.
They’re perfectly spiced, like your favorite banana bread, with cinnamon and just a hint of ground cloves, and I filled them with chopped pecans for added texture. You can leave them out if you want though.
If you like this recipe, you have to try these chocolate zucchini muffins, and these healthy morning glory muffins and this dairy free blueberry muffins.
Searching for more summer squash recipes? zucchini risotto / arugula zucchini salad / roasted vegetable pasta salad / roasted sesame butternut squash
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- Canola oil – To make this recipe oil free, I recommend subbing unsweetened applesauce for oil at a 1:1 ratio.
- Egg – To make these zucchini muffins vegan, you can use an egg replacer product or a flax or chia egg.
- Pecans – Feel free to swap them out for walnuts if that’s more your style or if that is what you have on hand. Walnuts and pecans have a similar sweet, buttery flavor and texture, making them pretty interchangeable in most recipes.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How to make zucchini muffins
Before starting, preheat your oven to 350˚F and line a muffin pan with paper liners (or grease/flour the individual cups).
Prep your ingredients. Grate three medium zucchini with a box grater. You should get about 1 cup per zucchini, but if you have a little more or a little less, that’s ok. Measure the rest of your zucchini muffin ingredients.You can skip this step, but it helps keep everything organized and ensures that you don’t miss anything when your mixing. Feel free to hold off on measuring the vanilla extract and cracking the eggs until they’re needed in the recipe.
Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the grated zucchini, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Stir them together until their evenly combined. I like to use a fork to do this, but you can use a whisk or a rubber spatula. You don’t want to over mix the eggs, or you’ll end up with tough zucchini muffins.
Add your dry ingredients. Next, add your spices, baking powder, soda and salt. Then mixing in the flour, about 1 cup at a time, until everything mixed together and no dry flour or lumps remains. If you’re adding pecans to your zucchini muffins, add stir them in with the last cup of flour.
Bake the muffins. Portion the muffin batter into a muffin liners until they’re about 2/3 – 3/4 full. Top with additional pecan pieces, if desired. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow zucchini muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
More muffins to love: healthy morning glory muffins / chocolate zucchini carrot muffins / apple walnut muffin tops / blueberry muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded zucchini (about 3 medium zucchini)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix together the shredded zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Stir until evenly combined.
- Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves.
- Add flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring until each addition is combined. With the last addition of flour, stir in the pecans.
- Fill each paper line with about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of batter, until the mixture has been divided equally between cups.
- Portion the batter equally between paper liners (about 2/3 – 3/4 full).
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
These were delicious! Even my picky 3 yo loved them. Thank you!
Love how it’s a one bowl process, less to clean up! Delicious and simple. I added chocolate chips to mine and halved the recipe.