Healthy Zucchini Muffin Recipe
I've modified the recipe I posted previously, added more zucchini and reduced the amount of sugar, so it's healthier and the results are so much better! I'm really pleased with the way these turned out. Better tasting and better for you! Now that's my kind of dessert! Actually, you could eat these muffins any time… they make a good snack (perfect for kid's lunch boxes – get some extra vegies into them without them realizing), if you're like me and can't eat a lot first thing in the morning they are lovely for breakfast with your morning coffee or tea. So without further ado, here's the recipe…
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil *see below for healthier variation
1 cup soft brown sugar
3 cups grated zucchini
2 teas vanilla
1-1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teas salt
1 teas baking soda
1 teas baking powder
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions:
Beat eggs until light and foamy; add vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly but blend thoroughly.
Mix together the remaining dry ingredients, except nuts until they are thoroughly blended.
Add the dry ingredients to the first mixture, stir just enough to blend everything together. Stir in walnuts.
Spoon the batter into lightly oiled muffin tins, filling 3/4 of the muffin cup. Bake at 175C (325F) for about 20 minutes or until done. To check if they are done, insert a clean toothpick, skewer or wooden matchstick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, they're done.
Healthy Zucchini Muffin Recipe
Cool and serve. Can be refrigerated for a few days (the flavor seems even nicer the next day), eaten warm from the oven, or wrap and freeze them.
Makes 24 small muffins.
* Variation for even healthier zucchini muffins:
Allie, one of our readers, has this excellent suggestion for an even healthier variation. (I bet it's even yummier too!)
I also modified the fat; instead of 1 cup oil I did 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. It didn’t change the taste, but it was a little moister and healthier. This is also a great trick for brownies! ~ Allie
I also modified the fat; instead of 1 cup oil I did 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. It didn’t change the taste, but it was a little moister and healthier. This is also a great trick for brownies!
That’s excellent Allie, thank you! The applesauce would give it another beautiful flavor too I bet (I love applesauce). I’ll remember this trick for future baking recipes. I’m also going to incorporate your tip into the recipe above too so no one misses it.
I’m a big fan of low fat muffins. However, this recipe was unremarkable. If I made it again, I would double the amount of cinnamon, decrease the apple sauce to 1/4 cup, and increase the oil to 3/4 cup. I also would have baked at 400 degrees so the sides and bottoms brown/crisp.
Thanks for sharing your suggestions Sharyn. I have a question about increasing the oil though. I don’t know a great deal about what the requirements are for classifying something as low fat because I don’t think low fat is healthy (in fact I think extremely low fat is unhealthy), it’s the type of fat that’s important, not the amount. But wouldn’t increasing the oil make it higher in fat content?
When you actually make the recipe with your changes let us know how it comes out.
I like this recipe a lot, but I aslo made a small alteration to the recipe. I added 1 cup of shredded carrot because I only had 2 cups of zucchini, and instead of 1 whole cup of brown sugar I added 1/2 cup of splenda and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I don’t usually use sugar subs, but because there was already applesauce and brown sugar I thought that making the sub wouldn’t alter the flavor, but still keep it healthy. Anyway, lovely recipe. My kids really like it. I sometimes add walnuts to tops for a little crunch.
Thank you Aneka! I love it when people make alterations to the recipes (I’m always doing that myself) and post back about it. I love zucchini bread/cake, but I’m not too fond of carrot cake. So this is one I’d like to try this zucchini season. I think I’d like it with some carrot, just not all carrot. So thanks for the inspiration and taking the time to post your version and results :>
Hi Donna,
I would like to share my experience with all the suggestions and your wonderful recipe. I used 1 cup of carrots along with 2 cups of zucchini. I substituted 3/4 cup of grape seed oil and 2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce. I also substituted with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 10 packets of Stevia. This is the first time I used Stevia and I liked it. I also doubled the cinnamon, as suggested…love cinnamon. I baked them in Silpat muffin tins at 375 in a convect oven. They turned out wonderful and I will enjoy them with my friends snowshoeing tomorrow. Cheers.
Hi Danielle, thank you for sharing! Your version sounds wonderful. I’ve never baked with stevia before, I’ve only just moved to an area where I can get it easily, and I have only just started experimenting with it. I like it though. How much is in one of your packets of stevia? Cheers!
Thanks for this great recipe. I only had one small zucchini so I halved everything, except I used two eggs, plain flour only (for once I had no wholemeal in the pantry!) and no cinnamon (I was in too much of a hurry to go searching for it) and they really yummy. Delicious, moist and easy. My little boys have eaten three today and I’ve stocked up on zucchini so we can make more! Thanks Donna 🙂
Great recipe! My two year old loves it too. I used yellow squash, only 3/4 cup brown sugar and only 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup coconut oil. I totally left out the other half cup of fat and they turned out awesomely moist!i also decreased the flour by 3/4 cup and added 1/2 cup of wheat germ instead. Tastes great and super moist!!
That sounds like a great variation Alana! Thank you for sharing it. I’ve been using lots of coconut oil now, for just about everything, but when I created this recipe I hadn’t even tried coconut oil. I think it’s great that you used it in your recipe. I’m sure it helped to make them so moist. I sometimes use coconut oil like I used to use butter.
I love this recipe and make it all the time! I do substitute applesauce for half of the oil, and substitute some of the flour with flaxseed meal. I just linked back to the recipe on my blog: http://menusofamom.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/breakfast-feels-left-out/
My second pan is baking now. But I had to make substitutions and thought I would share. I totally forgot about the oil! And, I used whole wheat for half and oat flour for half. The kids and I loved them. But I went ahead and added some oil to what was left. Off to try them…I’m sure they are even better. I have pounds and pounds of zucchini…
I tried just a little bit different….I tried the recipe with 1/2 oil and 1/2 applesauce and then put in 1- 1/2 c oatmeal instead of the wholemeal flour, upped the flour to 2 cups flour and also 1 grated apple with skin on. OH Yum….
Nancy, thank you for sharing your variations! It sounds wonderful, especially substituting in the applesauce and oatmeal.
Very nice with applesauce (I used the little individual portion kind like Motts makes, perfect size). My kids eat anything with chocolate chips so substituted for nuts so great for school. Thanks for recipe as giant zucchini in my garden this year. I just grated up 3 cup portions and froze for future baking. Excellent, half dozen gone in half an hour.
Yummy, just the way you wrote them!!!
Thank you Lori!