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Made In A Pinch

Made In A Pinch

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Healthy Zucchini Muffins: Addictive & Easy


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Healthy Zucchini muffins make an excellent snack, on-the-go breakfast, or dessert for kids and the entire family! This recipe is virtually no-fail and the muffins are completely irresistible!

Healthy zucchini muffins pin

We all need “go-to” recipes…those recipes that are family favorites or that your kids will most likely eat even if they are only eating certain foods this week.

Yep, I’m pretty sure that you know what I mean!

If you love easy quick bread recipes, you won’t want to miss our Healthy Pumpkin Spice Bread or Banana Protein Muffins!

Healthy Zucchini Muffins Can Successfully Introduce New Veggies Into Your Child’s Diet

I remember when my oldest was about 13 months old or so he went through a phase where he would only eat cottage cheese and blueberries.

As far as picky food eating goes, I was ok with that combo. But he was pretty dead set on it and didn’t vary it for a while. I wanted to add a little variety to his diet (if I could sneak it in there).

It was around this time that a friend of mine gave me this recipe. I made it, and it became an instant hit in our family!

And what was better…my son actually loved these muffins! Often, I would give them to him as a snack food to supplement his limited diet.

healthy zucchini muffins on a plate from above

I found myself jumping up and down with excitement when he would eat these zucchini muffins because I was giving him healthy stuff!

When my second and third boys came along, I did the same thing with them and was thrilled when they loved the muffins too!

healthy zucchini muffins on a cooling rack

What Makes These Zucchini Muffins Healthy?

Real ingredients such as whole wheat, zucchini, carrots, reduced sugar, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, and cinnamon come together to make a delicious, healthy muffin that I feel great about feeding to my family.

I think these muffins were a helpful stepping stone to increasing the variety of foods that my kids would eat.

Now that we have increased the variety of foods in our diets, I don’t make these muffins quite as often. The upside to that is that the whole family gets crazy giddy when I DO make them!

What Makes These Zucchini Muffins So Delicious?

As I do with all recipes, I have played around with it quite a bit over the years to fit our family and provide even more nutritional quality.

In an effort to add more nutrition to this recipe, I experimented with white flour vs whole wheat flour, using both zucchini and carrots, reducing the amount of sugar in the recipe, and the level of spice in the muffins.

I have passed this recipe to many friends over the years who also share repeat success with it. It’s a hit every single time I share these muffins or this recipe. I love those kinds of recipes  🙂 

Get a week of recipes for classic dinners with a healthy twist kids will love.
healthy zucchini muffins on a plate

And the best part (as if it can get any better?)…it’s a very forgiving recipe, making it very difficult to mess up!

Ingredients Needed To Make Healthy Zucchini Muffins

There are only a few wholesome ingredients needed for this guilt-free recipe. Gather together:

  • Eggs
  • Unsweetened applesauce – I use this to replace some of the oil in my original recipe to lighten this recipe up while also keeping it moist.
  • Sugar
  • Baking soda and baking powder – leaveners to make your dough rise.
  • Vanilla, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg – flavor enhancers
  • Chia seeds – adds a nice bit of texture. I often use these instead of nuts because I prefer this texture.
  • Gound flax meal – adds a delicious nutty flavor in addition to essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.
  • Zucchini – grated zucchini. I use fresh if I have it or I use frozen – see my notes below on how to freeze zucchini to use all year long.
  • Walnuts – optional, finely chopped

Please check the recipe card at the end of this post to get the full recipe.

muffin ingredients

Tools Needed for Making Healthy Zucchini Muffins

Here are some of my favorite baking pans:

How To Make Healthy Zucchini Muffins

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Cream eggs, oil and sugar together.
  • Add vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon salt and baking powder to creamed mixture.
  • Mix in flour, chia seeds, and flax seed meal. Mix until just combined.
  • Add zucchini to mixture.
  • Add nuts (if using them).
  • Spoon muffin mixture into muffin tin, filling each muffin space about 3/4 of the way full. Bake 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through cooktime.
  • At 20 minutes, check the muffins with a toothpick to see if they are done.
muffin process image collage

Recipe Tips

I often replace up to have of the zucchini called for in the recipe with shredded carrots. I like the color and health benefits it adds to these healthy zucchini muffins!

FAQs

Got questions? Here are a few common questions that readers ask and their answers.

Do you peel zucchini?

You CAN peel off the skin of the zucchini, but I prefer to leave it on to get the health benefits of that dark green color. Don’t worry, you won’t notice the skin in the texture of taste of these muffins!

Does zucchini bread need to be refrigerated?

I have found that I can safely leave these out at room temperature for 2-3 days. However, if I refrigerate them, they’ll stay fresh for 7-8 days.

Can I Freeze These Muffins?

Yes! In fact, if you don’t plan to eat them within about 3-4 days, I highly recommend freezing them. 

They freeze (and thaw) extremely well! I have 3 kids, so I tend to package them in batches of 3 and then thaw them out one batch at a time when I plan to use them.

baked zucchini muffins stacked on a plate

How do I freeze zucchini for later use?

 I love to take some of my runaway zucchini and prepare it to freeze so I can use it all year long without buying it. Here’s the basic process, or you can watch the process in the video below:

  1. Wash the fresh zucchini.
  2. Trim the end off the zucchini. Use a mini grater and shred the zucchini into a collander.
  3. Measure out 1.5 cups and put it into a freezer-safe bag.
  4. Label the bag, spread out the contents so the bag lays flat, and freeze.
Get a week of recipes for classic dinners with a healthy twist kids will love.

 
Pin For Later!

healthy zucchini muffins pin

zucchini muffins
Healthy Zucchini Muffins
Print Recipe
Zucchini muffins that the entire family will go crazy for with the added bonus that they are healthy.
Servings Prep Time
24-26 muffins 10 minutes
Cook Time
20-30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
24-26 muffins 10 minutes
Cook Time
20-30 minutes
zucchini muffins
Healthy Zucchini Muffins
Print Recipe
Zucchini muffins that the entire family will go crazy for with the added bonus that they are healthy.
Servings Prep Time
24-26 muffins 10 minutes
Cook Time
20-30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
24-26 muffins 10 minutes
Cook Time
20-30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: muffins
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
  2. Cream eggs, oil and sugar together.
  3. Add vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon salt and baking powder to creamed mixture.
  4. Add zucchini to mixture.
  5. Add flour, chia seeds, and flax seed meal. Mix until just combined.
  6. Add nuts (if using them).
  7. Spoon muffin mixture into muffin tin, filling each muffin space about 3/4 of the way full. Bake 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through cooktime.
  8. Starting at 20 minutes, check the muffins with a toothpick to see if they are done. Another method is to lightly press down on the top of the muffin with a finger. If it springs back up, the muffins are cooked. Once done, pull out of the oven and allow to cool - enjoy then or later (they taste even better the next day!)
Recipe Notes

* These freeze GREAT, so after they have cooled, I take them and freeze them in groups or two or three so that I can pull them out and feed them to my boys for snacks **

*I usually split the amount indicated for zucchini between zucchini and carrots. For example, I will use about 1 ½ cups zucchini and ½ or ¾ cup chopped carrots (use the same process for chopping as for zucchini).

** Since I use these for snacks and they are so yummy that they hide all kinds of good-for-you stuff, I also add in about ¼ cup each of wheat germ and ground flax seeds, as well as 2 Tbsp of chia seeds. You can’t tell it’s all in there and the kids gobble them up!!

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Comments

  1. Jenny says

    I can’t wait to make these for my kids. I have a very picky eater and it’s tough. I always try to make muffins with healthy food inside because he will eat it them. Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday! Hope to see you next week!

    Reply

  6. Karen Propes says

    Cakes, pies and candy, such a busy season. My family counts on me to bring desserts and to surprise them every year. The main item is my fudge.

    Reply

  11. Sam says

    We have our list of cookies we make every year: chocolate chip, nana’s bar, snickerdoodles, snowballs, gingerbread, and butter cookies

    Reply

    • Heather says

      Oh, Ina, that’s a lot of surgeries. I hope your recovery is going well. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Thank you for entering the giveaway and good luck! 🙂

      Reply

  28. Jeanette Green says

    My daughter is 11 and loves to bake so I suspect we will be making a lot of homemade pies. Cherry and apple for sure.

    Reply

  37. shannon fowler says

    I love making healthy versions of my favorites. Im looking forward to making pumpkin protein muffins and gingerbread protein pancakes.

    Reply

  45. Kimberly M says

    Apple Pie is on my list to make for the holidays and also Chocolate chip cookies for my “cookie monster” grandsons.

    Reply

  51. amy guillaume linderman says

    my husband and i love baking for gifts for people. we make a really yummy bread that has dark chocolate, cherries and dried apricots in it

    Reply

  54. nicole deardorf says

    This year I will be trying to make all my Grandpa’s favorites. (He has cancer and this might be his last Christmas with us). I am still pretty new to baking but plan on a cranberry bread that is almost like cake (it is sooo good), lemon tarts and an array of cookies.

    Reply

    • Heather says

      That lineup of goodies sounds amazing, Nicole. I hope your Grandpa enjoys them and the holidays this year. Good luck with your baking endeavors – that cranberry bread sounds fantastic!

      Reply

  63. Nadia Martin says

    I will make several pot pie, as well as apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cream cheese roll some fudge and cookies !

    Reply

  73. Trinity Rosario says

    Most years I make the same stuff! Pumpkin Bread, Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks, Banana Bread, Sugar/Choc Chip/Snickerdoodles Cookies and Red Velvet Cupcakes!

    Reply

  87. Mary Beth Elderton says

    I’ll be taking desserts to go with my SIL’s traditional dinner—pumkin pie, berry cobbler, and peanut butter browies

    Reply

  92. Ruth McIver says

    I have a lot on my baking list this year. I definitely will do my chocolate chip cookies, with and without pecans. (too many nieces and nephews with allergies) I also want to try a new spin on sweet potato pies, mixing two recipes in one. I “hope” it will be a cross between sweet potato and pecan pie. Fingers crossed.

    Reply

  95. Linda Szymoniak says

    More than anything, we make cookies at our house around the holidays. Lots and lots and LOTS of cookies. My daughter uses some of them for gifts and takes some to get-togethers with her friends. I love baking but we don’t always do much of it the rest of the year, so I always pick our classic favorites (Toll House cookies top that list) and also pick some new recipes to try (some have been added to our favorites and some have never been made again). This prize would be SO helpful this holiday season.

    Reply

  97. Darla Peduzzi says

    We like thumbprints, buckeyes, hershey kisss cookies to name a few. It’s not Christmas without yummy homemade cookies!

    Reply

  102. Brenda Bailey says

    oooh Jeanne C I haven’t made one of those in years (I usually eat most of it).. lol
    I will be making my Jumbo Mollasses Spice Softies (big soft cookies). Those silicone sheets would be great right about baking cookies time.

    Reply

  104. Jeanne Coulombe says

    My family would go nuts if I didn’t make my NY cheesecake and pumpkin roll it’s a must or they all go nut’s and get upset..lol

    Reply

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