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This zucchini muffins recipe comes out ultra tall and fluffy! They’re easy to make with the best moist texture and sweet flavor.
Why we love this recipe
It’s the time of year where everyone we know has an overabundant zucchini plant. So why not shred it and bake it up into some tasty treats? These zucchini muffins really are the best way to use this green veggie!
These muffins are ultra tall, with the best fluffy texture and moist interior. Coarse grains of turbinado sugar add a tasty crunch to the top of the muffins! You can add chocolate chips if you like, to amp things up with a bit of pizzazz. As recipe experts who have made loads of zucchini recipes, this one’s a total classic.
How to make zucchini muffins
These zucchini muffins are so easy to whip up! They use standard muffin ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs, and oil, adding butter to add a little more richness and make for a tender crumb. This recipe is be just sweet enough so you feel like it’s a muffin, but not so sweet that it’s like a cupcake! Here’s how to make these easy zucchini muffins:
- Whisk together the butter, oil, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Sprinkle in the dry flour and zucchini, mixing with a spatula until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips if using.
- Bake: Place in muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Why is zucchini used in baking?
Zucchini is often used as a replacement for oil in baked goods. Why? It’s much lower calorie than oil and performs a similar function: bringing in moisture. Most of zucchini is water, so it disappears right into cakes and breads, leaving the baked good perfectly hydrated.
Because using shredded zucchini can stand in for some oil, these zucchini muffins have a low oil content: just over 1 teaspoon of oil per muffin. Thanks, zucchini!
Want another baked recipe with zucchini? Try this Chocolate Zucchini Cake: rich, moist and ultra chocolaty.
Gluten free and vegan options
Looking for gluten free or vegan zucchini muffins? We’ve got options for both! Here’s what to do:
- Gluten free zucchini muffins: Use our Healthy Zucchini Muffins: you’ll whiz up the ingredients in a blender. There’s no flour: just rolled oats! They come out beautifully fluffy.
- Vegan zucchini muffins: Use Vegan Zucchini Bread and bake it in muffin cups, using the timing below.
What is turbinado sugar?
This zucchini muffin recipe is sweetened just enough, and not so much that it tastes like a cupcake! In this recipe we’ve used turbinado sugar for topping because of its caramel-y flavor and crunchy texture.
Turbinado sugar is raw sugar with large, light brown crystals. It’s less processed than refined white sugar, because it’s boiled only once to remove the molasses. Because of that, it has a little more complexity in flavor than refined sugar. It’s great for adding a crunchy topping to muffins and quick breads.
How to store zucchini muffins
What’s the best way to store these zucchini muffins? It depends on how long you think they’ll be around. Here’s what we recommend:
- 1 day: Leave the muffins on a cooling rack and cover with a clean, dry dish towel. This helps the texture of the topping intact.
- Up to 4 days: Place a paper towel in the bottom of a sealed container, then place the muffins in and place a paper towel on top. The paper towels absorb any moisture, which helps to retain the topping texture.
- Longer than 4 days: Freeze these muffins in a sealable container and store up to 3 months.
More zucchini recipes
Got an overabundance of zucchini? Get ready! Here are some of our favorite zucchini recipes using that popular green veggie:
- Try Easy Zucchini Boats with an Italian-style filling of tomato sauce and cheese.
- Go for Perfect Sauteed Zucchini: just 10 minutes in a hot pan makes this green vegetable truly irresistible
- This Zucchini Lasagna is truly the best! Roasted zucchini noodles and three cheeses make just the right Italian flavor.
- Go for other baked goods: Zucchini Bread, Lemon Zucchini Bread, rich Chocolate Zucchini Bread or Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, spiced Snickerdoodle Zucchini Bread, Zucchini Brownies, Banana Zucchini Bread, or Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Dietary notes
This zucchini muffins recipe is vegetarian.
Frequently asked questions
No, you cannot taste the zucchini in these muffins. It adds moisture and a tender texture without affecting the overall flavor.
While zucchini is the most common vegetable used in these muffins, you can experiment with substituting yellow squash. Keep in mind that the flavor and texture may vary slightly.
Yes, you can substitute up to half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This will make the muffins slightly denser and nuttier in flavor.
Zucchini Muffins
This zucchini muffins recipe comes out ultra tall and fluffy! They’re easy to make with the best moist texture and sweet flavor.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: 10 muffins 1x
- Category: Muffin
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Baked
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (or vegan butter or more oil)
- ⅓ cup neutral oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups [280 g] all-purpose flour
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, packed (about 1 pound or 2 medium or 1 large zucchini), grated with large grater
- 1 cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping (optional) OR turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 muffin paper liners*.
- Melt the butter, then whisk in the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Use a spatula to mix in the flour and zucchini until a thick smooth batter forms, mixing just until there are no longer streaks of dry ingredients. Fold in ¾ cup chocolate chips (if using), mixing gently a few times.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups: the cups will be full to the top, using about a heaping ¼ cup per muffin. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar (for plain) or a sprinkle of chocolate chips (for chocolate variation).
- Bake until the tops are set, rotating the pans halfway through the baking, about 22 to 27 minutes total (a toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few clinging crumbs, but it can be tricky to tell with the chocolate chips since they melt onto the toothpick!). Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to fully cool (about 1 hour). The muffins store very well in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for 1 week, or frozen for 1 month.
Notes
*For the most even bake, you can also bake in two muffin tins spaced apart with every other muffin, then rotate the sheets halfway through.
These are delish!!! Oops – The instructions neglect to advise when to add the cinnamon. I almost forgot to do so until I realized that the cinnamon was still on the counter. So many great recipes – thank you!
Muffins turned out great. Can this recipe be used as a loaf versus muffins? I presume so, but wanted confirmation. Definitely recommend!
Thank you and it does! Here are some instructions for the loaf: https://www.acouplecooks.com/easy-zucchini-bread/
This was SO good. I love how moist the muffins came out. I didn’t have enough turbinado so used a combo of honey and regular sugar. Added a pinch of cloves and nutmeg, and baked half with chocolate chips. Highly recommend. Even better the next day!
So glad you enjoyed them!