With an easy method and super moist results, these Healthy Zucchini Muffins are a yummy kids breakfast or snack. They happen to be vegan and they store well for days!
Healthy Zucchini Muffins
We almost always have a batch of muffins in the rotation since they make such easy meal and snack components and my kids love these Zucchini Muffins. My favorite part about them is that you don’t have to grate the zucchini and squeeze it dry like you usually do for zucchini-based baked goods, which means the method is much easier than you might expect!
Vegan Zucchini Muffins
These healthy muffins are made without eggs and dairy—which makes them great if you are out of eggs or milk or if your kids have food allergies. They are super moist and have the typical texture of a muffin that you’d expect. And you don’t need any special ingredients to make them.
Ingredients in Healthy Zucchini Muffins
Here’s a look at the ingredients in this recipe so you know what you’ll need:
- freshzucchini
- rolled oats
- cinnamon
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- unsweetened applesauce
- neutral oil (like canola)
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- whole wheat flour
- chocolate chips, optional
TIP: You can use honey instead of maple syrup if you prefer.
How to Make Healthy Zucchini Muffins Step-by-Step
The process for making these muffins is really easy and the batter comes together in the food processor. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Add the zucchini to the food processor. Process to grind well.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the flour and chocolate chips, if using.
- Pulse in the flour and chocolate chips.
- Bake!
TIP: The moisture in the zucchini is part of what makes these muffins have such a great final texture, so no need to squeeze it out like in most other zucchini muffins recipes!
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Chocolate Zucchini MuffinsYou can add chocolate chips to these muffins if you’d like. I usually do half of the batch with them and half without so I have some that are less sweetened for my youngest and some with chocolate to entice my oldest kiddo to eat them. (She only likes muffins with chocolate at this point in her life!)
Baby Muffins
These can be a wonderful recipe to share with a baby or one year old. I’d recommend dicing the muffins up and serving slightly warm to ensure that they are easy to chew.
Tips for Making the Best Healthy Zucchini Muffins
- Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Warm slightly if desired before serving.
- To make these gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten-free flour blend in place of the whole wheat flour and certified gluten-free rolled oats.
- Dice these to serve to babies or one year olds to ensure they are easy to chew.
- Serve plain, topped with butter or nut/seed butter, jam, or a little applesauce.
- Use honey instead of maple syrup if you prefer.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you try it, so please comment below to share. (Each comment helps more families to find my content, so I really appreciate each one!)
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I like to make half of the batch with mini chocolate chips and half without so I have options. They’re still sweet enough for little ones without the chocolate though! This recipe was updated in May 2020.
Ingredients
- 2 cups roughly chopped zucchini
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup neutral oil (like canola)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin.
- Add the zucchini to the bowl of a food processor and process until well grated, about 30 seconds.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except the flour and chocolate chips, and process for about 30 seconds.
- Add the flour and chocolate chips, if using, and pulse to just combine. (The batter will be thick.)
- Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin, using about 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per muffin cup, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or store for later.
Notes
Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Warm slightly if desired before serving.
To make these gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten-free flour blend in place of the whole wheat flour and certified gluten-free rolled oats.
Dice these to serve to babies or one year olds to ensure they are easy to chew.
Serve plain, topped with butter or nut/seed butter, jam, or a little applesauce.
Use honey instead of maple syrup if you prefer.
My son (12 months) hates vegetables. I mean seriously I tired hiding it in sorts of ways and he always spits it out. I initially made half the recipe thinking I would have to eat them all. Seriously he loves them so much !!! This is the only vegetable he eats. I’ve never seen him eat anything that fast. I doubling the recipe and freezing them. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Is there a substitute for the oil. I don’t really like using that much oil in the recipe? Also, if refrigerated why are they only good 3 days?
I haven’t tried them any other way but it’s possible using some applesauce in place of the oil will work. They are fine longer in the fridge, but they get a little firmer than I like after that…
Is there a replacement for the applesauce ?
I haven’t tried it any other way but it’s possible mashed banana or butter would work.
I have made a lot of Amy’s muffins but these are our favorite! Soooo good. I plan to make these again and double the recipe to have some in the freezer for East snacking!
★★★★★
Yay!
This recipe is so delicious! My kids loved them. Instead of using applesauce I used 2 eggs and they were perfect. I’m sure they would have had some more sweetness had I used applesauce, so maybe add a little more of whatever sweetener you decide to use. They were perfect for us without the extra though.
★★★★★
Ok, these are amazing!!! I grated carrots and an apple instead of zucchini cause zuc’s are expensive atm and my husband (the chef) would lose his mind if i used one in baking. But they turned out so good! I also added some choc chips cause why not?
The batter was so thick and i checked twice to see if I’d missed an ingredient, but I hadn’t. Glad i didn’t add milk or anything cause the consistency turned out perfect. Almost pudding like.
I can forsee these being a staple for our whole family going into the winter months, esp with the ease of variation for ingredients! YUM!
★★★★★
My one year old have been having two (standard size!) of these muffins for breakfast everyday for the last week. He just loves it and actually expresses that he wants them! I can’t help but to steal a piece when I give it to him, it’s really tasty!
★★★★★
I’m so glad!
This recipe’s been really turned into my go-to recipe for toddler muffins! I’ve made them with zucchini and carrots (half and half), and with sweet potatoes without changing anything and both turned out super yummy 🙂 I even tried baking with half whole wheat flour and half oat flour and it’s still turned out perfect!!
★★★★★
Happened to have zucchini on-hand so I decided to make these with the help of my two-year-old and four-year-old. They are so good! Would definitely make these again. And very straightforward ingredients – which I always appreciate. Thanks!
★★★★★
I’ve made these, along with several others from your site, for my 2 year old many times now. He loves them! I’m so thankful I stumbled upon your website. I refer you often to friends with littles and have been using it myself since we started table foods. I’m so happy to be able to offer him healthy, unprocessed, and YUMMY (most important!) snacks and foods. 🙂
I am so glad!
Love this recipe! Made it with zucchini the other day and my daughter and I ate them up so we made a summer squash version this morning. I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon+chocolate combo so I did 3/4 tsp of cinnamon and it made a big difference for me. Gonna freeze some for a road trip we have in a few weeks!
★★★★★
Loved this recipe! Muffins were so moist and just sweet enough 🙂 great for the whole family
★★★★★
I’m so glad!
These were great! The kiddos each had 2 already – did not use the chocolate chips and it was still sweet enough for them. Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
I’m so glad!
Excellent recipe! I swapped King Arthur measure for measure flour for the whole wheat flour and 1/4c Amaranth flakes and 1/4c quinoa flakes for the oats due to food allergies. The amaranth and quinoa are a little stronger flavor, but we’re used to it. It would likely be covered up more with the chocolate chips which I did not use. Thank you!
That sounds delicious!
Wondering if I could make these as regular cupcake size? We only have those types of pans. We LOVE all your muffins, so excited to try this one!
I haven’t tried these as full size, but if you do, I’d fill about 1/2-3/4 full (so not up to the edge) and you’ll need to bake longer. Sometimes muffins without eggs can take a while to bake in the center. I don’t really expect that to be the case given how well these bake as minis, but it’s possible. I’d guess you’d want to bake 22-24 minutes, but test the centers with a cake tester (you want it to come out cleanly) to be sure! I’d love to hear how they go if you try them that way!
If I wanted to make these with no maple syrup/honey/sugar, would I have to change/add anything to the recipe?
You could try milk in place of it, but they will not be very sweet at all and may be a little bland. Maybe add more cinnamon?
Is there anything to substitute the applesauce? I find that when I’ve used banana or applesauce to bake your muffin recipes they always come out raw. Not sure if I’m doing something wrong.
I’ve done it with yogurt, but I made them twice this past week as written and had no issues with them baking through baked as directed as mini muffins. Which muffins have you had issues with?
What can I use as a substitute for the flax seeds, and how much? Also, I have some grated zucchini that I’d like to use for this recipe-will the amount still be the same, 2 cups? Thank you!
I haven’t made it with anything other than flaxseed but you could try instant oats or oat flour if you have either of those. Is your grated zucchini already squeezed dry? If so, you’d probably use about a cup and you might need to add 1/4 cup milk or water to make the batter moist enough.
wow – 2 tablespoons of baking powder? is that meant to be 2 teaspoons? haven’t made them yet – but seems like a lot. great looking recipe !
Yes, two teaspoons, sorry!
Could you change the recipe to reflect this? How frustrating to waste good flour and ingredients during coronavirus lockdown! Thanks for the generally awesome toddler-friendly recipes.
★★★
I’m sorry that I missed that! Have you tried one? They might still be okay. (Again, I’m really sorry I didn’t update that immediately.)
Would I run into any issues if I didn’t use a food processor? Standard hand grater and good old fashioned elbow grease okay?
That will work fine. The food processor makes the batter a little more uniform but it will still work this way.
Is it possible to substitute the maple syrup/honey for a sugar of some sort?
Yes, honey should work just fine!