Vegan Zucchini Muffins

Vegan Zucchini Muffins are moist and delicious, easy to make and perfect for a quick and healthy breakfast or snack. I make these healthy zucchini muffins with applesauce as part of my weekly meal prep so we always have a grab and go option, even on hectic weekday mornings or busy afternoons.

Three cheers for zucchini season! I know how much you guys love my healthy zucchini recipes, so I tweaked my vegan zucchini bread recipe (just a smidge since it’s so so good as is)…and we have another winner on our hands. This vegan muffin recipe is just as delicious.

Other recipes for zucchini muffins have complicated steps to squeeze out the excess moisture from the zucchini. The result is often dry muffins—plus extra clean up. No thank you! These easy vegan zucchini muffins are the perfect way to make them. Just shred and mix.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Ooey gooey melted vegan chocolate chips, in a moist muffin that’s perfectly sweet. Oh these are delicious muffins. But, if you’re a big time chocolate lover, you may prefer these double chocolate zucchini muffins, they’re made with almond butter and taste incredible.

Not a fan of sweet zucchini recipes? That’s OK. Because there are so many savory ways to celebrate zucchini season. Have you tried my zucchini pizza bites? An insanely delish appetizer that is also super quick! What about vegan stuffed zucchini boats? Everyone adores the “meaty” filling. And, then there’s hubby’s favorite: Corn + Zucchini Fritters. Why not give something new a try?

Healthy Ingredients:

• Fresh Zucchini: One large zucchini or two smaller zucchini will yield at least 2 cups shredded zucchini. If you substitute with yellow summer squash, opt for the long thin variety. The thicker, rounder summer squash have too many seeds inside.
• Flour: I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 flour in these photos. It’s a great choice if you need gluten-free zucchini muffins. I often make this recipe with a combination of whole wheat flour and spelt flour to similar great results. Use any all purpose flour that you know agrees with YOU. Whole grains are a great way to introduce diversity into your gut microbiome and keep you regular with naturally found fiber.
• Banana: A natural way to reduce the amount of sweetener you need in a muffin recipe. Banana also provides potassium and fiber.
• Unsweetened Applesauce: A pantry staple if you do a lot of vegan baking. It will interact perfectly with the baking powder to make these vegan muffins rise.
• Ground flaxseed: Another essential for vegan baking. Ground chia seeds would be a good substitute. You can use a spice grinder for either seed to produce a ground powder perfect for baking.
• Pure Maple Syrup: You can also use honey or date syrup. With the banana and applesauce providing sweetness, you don’t need much more.
• Walnuts: I love the added texture (and don’t forget about the Omega 3s walnuts provide) some chopped nuts provide. If you’re not a fan, simply omit them. Or you could substitute any other nut or seed you prefer.
• Vegan Chocolate Chips: I prefer to use dark chocolate mini chips in healthy muffin recipes. They contain less sugar and you can get more chips in just ¼ cup so there will be chocolate in every bite!
• Full list of ingredients, along with amounts can be found in the recipe card.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• QUICK: When you don’t have time to wait for a zucchini loaf to finish in the oven, these healthy vegan muffins are quick…you know I’ve always got you!
• EASY: No need to remove the extra liquid from the shredded zucchini, the flaxseeds will bind together with it and the final product will be a moist and delicious, perfectly fluffy vegan muffin! If this is your first time baking with zucchini, no worries…
• HEALTHY: These muffins are sweetened with applesauce, mashed banana and just a touch of maple syrup or honey. You’ll find no refined sugars in the ingredients to any of my recipes. Ever. These healthy muffins also are oil-free. Use whole grain flour and you’ve got a whole foods plant based recipe on your hands
• VEGAN: Eggless and dairy-free muffins that taste incredible. For a vegan muffin recipe, these rise and get fluffy…without any substitutions.
• GLUTEN-FREE: You can use an all purpose gluten-free flour, like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 for delicious gluten-free zucchini muffins.

How to make Zucchini Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with parchment liners.

First, mash the banana with a fork and add to a medium sized mixing bowl.

Next you’ll shred the zucchini. I do this in my food processor to save time. Or, you can use the side of a box grater. Anything from 2-2 ½ cups shredded zucchini will work in this recipe. Either 1 large or two smallish-medium sized zucchini will give you the right amount of grated zucchini.

Place shredded zucchini in the bowl with the mashed banana and add remaining wet ingredients (applesauce, maple syrup or honey, vanilla extract). Mix well and set aside.

Now, you’ll gather the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork or a whisk to mix the flour, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt together. This will help break up any clumps and assure an even mix.

Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl with the mixed dry ingredients. Mix well. Pull the spatula all the way underneath the batter to be sure there isn’t any flour at the bottom of the bowl that hasn’t been incorporated into the rest of the ingredients.

And now it’s time for any add-ins. My personal favorites are chopped walnuts and mini dark chocolate chips. You could use any nuts or seeds and also swap the chocolate for blueberries, if desired. Mix until they’re well incorporated to the rest of the batter.

The batter will be thick and the applesauce will start to activate the baking powder. Grab a cookie scoop or use two large spoons to evenly distribute the muffin batter into the prepared tins.

After you put the filled muffin tin into the preheated oven, you can relax for about 27 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Transfer muffins to a wire rack once they’re cool enough to handle. If you’re able to wait until the muffins are completely cool before trying one, it will come out cleanly from the muffin liner.

Debra’s Pro Tips

• The muffins will come out cleanly from the wrapper if you’re able to wait until they cool.
• Mini chips are easier to distribute into the batter for some chocolate in every bite!
• Yellow summer squash is a good substitute for the zucchini, but use smaller ones to get your 2 cups shredded, the larger summer squash have too many seeds.
• Try to fill the muffin tins about ¾ full. If yours are bit fuller and you only get 11 muffins….no big deal. Your muffins will just be a bit larger…where’s the problem? Just try to make all your muffin tins have the same amount of batter so they’ll be done at the same time.
• I used gluten-free all purpose flour in the photos and you can see, they rose beautifully. Perfect vegan and gluten-free zucchini muffins for those who need them.

More Healthy Muffin Recipes you will love

• Jam Filled Oatmeal Muffins Naturally vegan and gluten-free.

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📖 Recipe

Vegan Zucchini Muffins

Author: Debra Klein

Vegan Zucchini Muffins, sweetened with applesauce are easy to make and perfect for a healthy breakfast, snack or tea time treat.

5 from 45 votes

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Prep Time 8 minutes mins

Cook Time 27 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 203 kcal

Equipment

• Food Processor
• Balloon whisk
• Box Grater

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 large zucchini*
• ▢ ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ▢ ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• ▢ 1 ripe banana mashed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups whole grain flour*
• ▢ ⅓ cup ground flaxseed
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ½ cup chopped walnuts optional
• ▢ ¼ cup mini dark chocolate chips

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with parchment wrappers.
• Shred zucchini. You do not need to peel the zucchini first. But do wash it well. I do this in my food processor to save time, but you can also use the side of a box grater.
• Mash banana until smooth.
• In a medium bowl, mix shredded zucchini, mashed banana, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla until well combined.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir flour, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Use a whisk to break up any clumps.
• Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just well incorporated, with no flour at the bottom of the bowl. 
• Gently stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
• USe a cookie scoop to evenly distribute muffin batter into the lined muffin pan. You will have enough batter for 12 muffins ¾ filled. If it works out there are only 11 muffins, that's Ok. No need to redistribute, your muffins will be just a bit bigger…nothing wrong with that!
• Bake in preheated oven for 27 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the biggest muffin comes out clean.
• Let you healthy muffins sit in the muffin tin until cool enough to handle. Then, transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Video

Notes

ZUCCHINI: you'll need about 2 ½ cups shredded zucchini. 1 large or two medium sized zucchini will yield 2-2 ½ cups. It's OK if you're a bit off.

FLOUR: I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour in these photos. It's a great choice for gluten-free zucchini muffins. I've also used whole wheat flour, part whole wheat and part spelt with great results. Use any all purpose flour that you know agrees with you.

If you peel off the cupcake liner when the muffin is still hot, some it will stick to the wrapper. Cooled muffins will come out of the wrapper in one piece.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 203kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 4gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 235mgFiber: 3gSugar: 13g

Note

The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag me @dkhealthcoach or use hashtag #dkhealtcoach on Instagram so I can see it!!