These Zucchini Carrot Muffins are a delicious way to sneak in extra veggies. Kids and adults alike love this sweet muffin recipe and you will too!
These Zucchini Carrot Muffins are chock full of healthy ingredients and taste scrumptious! Sweet apples, carrots and zucchini blend together in a moist, cinnamon muffin batter that tastes like carrot cake!
My son Gavin actually requests these for his birthday instead of cake. They’re inspired by these apple muffins that we make often. I combined that idea with my delicious zucchini muffins recipe to create a whole new muffin recipe. They’re so good, they’ve now become a permanent fixture in our family.
I would LOVE your ideas on how you get your kids to eat more fruits and veggies. Please leave a comment below and let’s swap stories!
“I have to say, this is probably the best and most perfect recipe I have ever tried. I’ve had it as muffins, but one time I had it made into a loaf. Both were perfect.”
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST MOIST MUFFINS
- The veggies in this muffin recipe help make them super moist! I like to shred my carrots, apples and zucchini with a food processor or you can use a hand held grater.
- Store muffins in a sealed container or Ziploc bag in a single layer. To keep them from getting to sticky, line the bottom of the container or bag with a paper towel, then cover the top of the muffins with another paper towel.
- Be gentle with the batter. If muffins are coming out crumbly and dry, you may be overmixing the batter. Try to just fold in the ingredients until everything is just barely combined.
- If the muffins seem too moist, they’re probably not cooked enough. Usually it’s because the oven isn’t hot enough or the cooking time was too short. I’ve never had an issue with the instructions in the recipe card below, so follow those directions and you should be good!
- I cut the sugar just a tiny bit from the original apple muffin recipe, and didn’t add the streusel topping. These zucchini carrot muffins turned out absolutely amazing.
- For added crunch, you can toss in a handful of walnuts, almonds or pecans to this muffin recipe. The beauty of this recipe is that it is so versatile you can switch things up a bunch of different ways.
- If a super sweet tooth strikes, these muffins would taste delicious with a dollop of my cream cheese frosting! So yummy!
MORE FAVORITE MUFFIN RECIPES
Muffins or sliced quick breads always make any breakfast or brunch seem a little more special. And they’re so easy to make from scratch so you don’t need to spend money on boxed muffin mixes. Try some of my favorite recipes:
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Grapefruit Muffins
- One Bowl Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Cherry Banana Muffins
- Eggnog Muffins with Cinnamon Rum Glaze
- Orange Blueberry Fruffins (French Toast Muffins)
I actually think these zucchini muffins are a little bit better than the apple original, but maybe that’s just me telling myself that I’m having a slightly healthier breakfast with my coffee. I hope you enjoy these healthy, sweet treats! Let me know in the comments below what you think of this recipe. Enjoy!
Zucchini Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar 301 grams
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup oil 250 ml
- 3 cups flour 384 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt 5.69 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking soda 4.8 grams
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2.6 grams
- 1 cup shredded zucchini about half a medium zucchini (150 grams)
- 1 cup shredded carrot about two carrots (180 grams)
- 1 cup shredded apple about one apple (150 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and oil.
- In another large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar and egg mixture. The batter will be very thick.
- Mix in the zucchini, apple, and carrot.
- Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick stuck in one of the middle ones comes out with a crumb or two.
did you make this
Zucchini Carrot Muffins
Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything
Chelsea says
I absolutely loved these muffins, my whole family did! I found the recipe so easy, I really liked that I didn’t have to bother squeezing the juice out of the fruits and vegetables. I used extra cinnamon because I love cinnamon and also added a little fresh nutmeg and cloves. I also swapped out a 1/2 cup of the white sugar with about 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, simply because I was low on white sugar. I swapped out a 1/4 cup of the flour with ground flax seeds for extra fibre and also added a handful of hemp hearts for protein and they came out perfectly. You would never know there were any healthy ingredients in them at all lol! I did think that I was going to end up over mixing the batter since it starts out pretty thick but I let it rest after mixing until barely just incorporated for about 10 minutes while I cleaned up the kitchen and the batter loosened. I find a rest before spooning the batter into the muffin tins helps prevent muffins from being tough or doughy if you’re worried you over mixed. I would recommend doing that for this recipe.
Kristen says
How long are the muffins good for? Stored at room temperature or in the fridge? Can you freeze some? Thanks!
They will last for about a week and a half in an air tight container at room temperature. Do not pack them too tightly in the container you store them in. And they freeze very very well.
Devorah says
Can this be baked in a pan? If yes, what size how? And how long would it need to bake for?
I’ve only tested this as muffins. If I were going to make it in a bread pan, I would do a standard bread pan like this one, and it would likely take 55 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Carmen says
We love this recipe! It’s one of my go-to’s for veggies for the kiddos.
Now I’m trying to make it dairy free. What can I substitute for the eggs?
So, if you are working with someone with a dairy intolerance, they can typically still eat eggs. Eggs aren’t considered dairy. If you are making these for someone with an egg allergy, I would need to test that, I’m not well versed in egg substitutes in baked goods, but you might check out this: https://iambaker.net/egg-substitutes/
Jody says
These are a good muffin. I was a bit worried because the batter was so thick but they turned out amazing! I used frozen shredded zucchini and squeezed out the moisture as I didn’t want them to not cook well. I also like to test my muffins by touching them on the top before taking them out of the oven. If they sink in, I leave them a bit longer. I baked these a bit longer than the 25 minutes, but you need to check them often, depending on size of muffin and oven.
Julia says
My family and friends say this is the best …I like it because doesn’t use as much sugar as most and is full of veggies!
I’m so glad you like it!
Patricia says
I made these using a gluten free flour. They are delicious.
I’m so glad to hear that worked well for you!
Joyce says
I loved these I was blessed with much zucchini, maybe 100lbs of apples, 5 lbs of carrots. I believe the next batch I will finely chop the apples, grating them didn’t work well. Might be good with nuts and raisins
I’m so glad you liked them!
Aliaa says
Hi there, i tried the recipe it tasted great they loved it, but i had to add a half a cup of milk since the recipe had no liquid and the batter was sooo thick
There is a full cup of oil in this recipe, so I’m not quite sure what you mean by no liquid.
Emmy Lawhon says
Can I sub the sugar with maple syrup?
Want to make these for my 2 year old
I haven’t made them with maple syrup, but I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t work. You will need less, probably only 3/4 cup.