These homemade Zucchini Muffins are the perfect quick snack or breakfast on the go if you are in a hurry. They are so moist and tender and rise beautifully and it’s a great way to use up your summer zucchini.
We love quick muffin recipes, from our very popular Banana Muffins to our sweet and tangy Blueberry Muffins. These Zucchini Muffins are a new favorite and are perfect for busy families on the go.
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Zucchini Muffins Recipe
With all of the zucchini we have in our garden this season, we’ve been making Zucchini Bread every few days. It’s the perfect way to use our summer bounty and sneak in extra veggies for the kids.
These muffins are great for lazy summer mornings or as a snack on the road or trail. They stay moist for days, you can add nuts, chocolate chips, berries, or whatever you like to add extra nutrients, flavor, and texture to your muffins.
Ingredients
I love the idea of zucchini muffins but simply dividing our zucchini bread recipe into muffins wasn’t absolutely perfect if you wanted 12 muffins. It took several batches, but I have finally perfected the best zucchini muffins.
- Flour – All-purpose. If you are making gluten-free zucchini muffins, you’ll want to use your favorite GF flour
- Egg – Provides structure and helps to create these perfectly textured muffins
- Baking powder and baking soda – leavening agents to help the muffins rise
- Oil – Using extra light olive oil, canola, or vegetable oil helps to make a light and fluffy batter
- Milk – Helps to make the muffins less dense
- Vanilla – Use our homemade vanilla or storebought
- Salt – Balances the sweetness
- Cinnamon – Adds a wonderful, cozy spice flavor to these muffins
- Zucchini – 1 1/2 cups, grated. Adds moisture to keep the muffins soft and has a subtle flavor that complements the sweetness and cinnamon spice
- Optional Add-ins – Pick one or use a combination: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, golden raisins, dried cranberries, or semisweet chocolate chips (if adding chocolate chips, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup, if desired)
Pro Tip: To quickly bring your eggs to room temperature, submerge them in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 10-15 minutes.
How to Make Zucchini Muffins
- Prepare – Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners or grease with softened butter or cooking spray.
- Dry Ingredients – Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Wet Ingredients – In a separate large bowl, thoroughly whisk together eggs, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- Combine – Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir together with a whisk until well blended and smooth.
- Grate – Grate the zucchini with a large box grater. Add the shredded zucchini to the batter along with chocolate chips (or any optional add-ins that you are using), and fold until well incorporated.
- Bake – Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining chocolate chips and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Pro Tip: Use a trigger-release ice cream scoop to fill your muffin cups. It helps to scoop even portions into each cup and makes the job much easier.
Common Questions
Grate the zucchini in the large holes of a box grater over a bowl or plate. Be sure not to squeeze or pack the grated zucchini in your measuring cup too tightly.
If you are dairy-free, you can use water or almond milk instead. The milk adds moisture and helps combine the dry ingredients. It also adds an extra fluffiness to the muffins when they cook.
This recipe is easily doubled. The cooling time for the muffins is only 5 minutes, so if you do not have an extra 12-cup muffin tin, you can wait for them to cool, and have your next batch of muffin batter ready to go.
This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of grated zucchini, which is usually one medium, half-pound, zucchini. Be sure to cut the stem off of the top before grating.
There is no need to peel the zucchini before grating. The skin is thin enough to eat, so peeling does not change the taste or texture either way. I like to see the bits of shredded zucchini show up when I bite into the muffins.
How to Serve Zucchini Muffins
Zucchini muffins are fantastic just as they are, or with any of the add-ins mentioned above. Some of my favorite ways to top them include:
- Cream cheese frosting – make these muffins look like a healthy(ish) cupcake… oh, they are so delicious!
- Butter – On the top, or heat your muffins up in the toaster or microwave and add it right to the sliced sides.
- Powdered sugar – dusted over the tops
- Whipped Honey Butter – perfectly sweet and spiced with cinnamon.
Make-Ahead
- To Store: Store your freshly made muffins at room temperature for several days by placing the muffins in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container. Be sure they have cooled completely before covering them.
- Freezing: If you want to save muffins for later, simply add your cooled muffins to a freezer bag or wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to enjoy them, unwrap them and set them on the counter to thaw or pop them into the microwave for about 30 seconds to defrost.
Pro Tip: Be sure your muffins have completely cooled before storing or freezing them. This will prevent condensation from forming on your muffin tops affecting the texture.
Love Muffin Recipes?
If you are looking for more quick muffin recipes to try, here are a few of our favorites. Make them now and store some in the freezer for back-to-school breakfasts or lunchbox treats.
Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or gluten-free flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup extra light olive oil, or canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk, whole milk or 2% milk
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini, from 1 medium zucchini or 1/2 lb
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, thoroughly whisk together eggs, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk until well blended and smooth.
- Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater and fold into the batter until well incorporated then fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips (if using).
- Using a trigger-release ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into the 12-cup lined muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake at 350˚F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the tins for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi, I tried this recipe, good, but in listings there is use of one large egg and in picture there are three eggs. My batter became thick (as I did not use zucchini)because used just an egg. Please suggest. Thanks Natasha.
Hi Tasneem! Follow the written recipe, which is written for 12 muffins. We made a larger batch when we took the picture. Also- do not skip the zucchini. The recipe won’t turn out the same. The batter will be thick and the muffins dry after they are baked. The zucchini adds moisture and keeps the muffins soft.
The muffins came out too moist, almost mushy. When I took out from the oven, I made sure the toothpick was clean. Disappointed that I wasted the ingredients.
Hi Pat, I’m sorry to hear that but I think I can help troubleshoot that. If you add too much zucchini, it will add too much liquid to the recipe since zucchini hold a surprising amount of water.
Hey, this is Ella, if I want to make it into bread, should the time stay the same? I saw other recipes for zucchini bread and they say 1 hour.
HI Ella, I do have a Zucchini Bread recipe. I hope you love it.
Worst muffins I’ve ever made. They are too dense & a waste of ingredients.
Hi Deborah! I’m so sorry to hear that. A dense cake is often the result of using too much flour. Be sure to measure your ingredients correctly (don’t scoop the flour out with the measuring cup). See my tutorial here on how to measure ingredients. Also, be sure not to squeeze the grated zucchini. You’ll want to keep the juices- it adds moisture. I hope that helps.
Will not put as much cinnamon next time.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us.
Shouldn’t we squeeze excess fluid off grated zucchini?
Hi Barb! You’ll want to retain it because it adds moisture to the muffins.
Can I use applesauce instead of oil??? Bonnie
Hi Bonnie! I have not tested applesauce in this.
The recipe says 1 egg but the ingredient photo shows 3 eggs.
Which number of eggs is it please?
Hi Bernie, sorry about the confusion – the recipe card is correct and it is 1 egg. I had updated the recipe and photos but looks like I need to update the ingredients photo next.
Just an additional comment, when adding the dry to the wet, do not whisk, just fold in. The whisk gets so clumpy & the batter gets caught in the spokes of the whisk, so its difficult to get it off. Otherwise, its a great recipe!
Great flavor. But following all directions, mine came out semi-gooey in the middle. Ended up having to go an additional 11 minutes. I think I’d add a bit more flour next time.
Hi David! It could be the type of pan you’re using, how your oven bakes, but also be sure to fully preheat your oven beforehand. I like to use an I’m oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure my oven is fully heated.
The muffins were delicious. A very easy recipe. I used avocado oil which is healthier than canola or veg. I cut back sugar to 1/2 cup & used chocolate chips. I was a bit short on the chips but the muffins turned out sweet enough for me. I baked them for almost 26 min. I brought them into work & everyone enjoyed them.
Hi fantastic recipe they were delicious. Only negative the tops were very sticky they were totally cooked took 7 mins more than instructions, can you help please? I want this to be one of my main muffin recipies xxx
Hi Carol! Are you using standard size cupcake/muffins pans? Also- be sure to fully preheat the oven before you start baking. I like to use an internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure my oven is calibrated and fully heated.