These delicious zucchini apple carrot muffins are packed with nutrients and fibre, making them great as a healthy breakfast or snack! An easy one-bowl recipe that is ready in 45 minutes.
These zucchini apple carrot muffins are one of my go-to breakfast items! They are moist, fluffy, and incredibly filling. I love pairing it with my protein iced coffee or protein hot chocolate for a quick yet satisfying grab-and-go breakfast.
If you love the sweet and savory combo, I highly recommend serving muffins with my tofu scramble or vegan Italian sausages.
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💚Why you will love this recipe
- A healthy breakfast or snack food that nutritious and high in fiber
- Moist and fluffy - taste pretty close to traditional muffins!
- One-bowl, quick to make, and ready in 45 minutes
- A great meal prep recipe that stores well and are freezable
🌾What you will need
📃Ingredients notes and substitutions
- Oat flour - You can easily make your own at home by blending rolled or quick oats in a high-speed blender until they are finely grounded.
- Carrot - It is recommended to use freshly grated carrots, and not the store-bought pre-shredded ones.
- Apple - I am using Honeycrisp to give muffins more sweetness, but any variety of apples can be used. If you prefer some tartness, go for Granny Smith apples.
- Maple syrup - Can be substituted with other liquid sweeteners like honey or agave syrup.
- Cashew butter - Any nut butters, like peanut butter or almond butter, can be used in place. For a nut-free recipe, use sunflower seed butter or tahini.
🔪How to make
Mix oat flour along with the rest of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Next, add all wet ingredients and the shredded vegetables. Stir until everything is well incorporated.
Scoop batter into the muffin tin, filling each hole ¾ of the way full.
Bake at 220C/430F for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180C/350F and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Let muffins cool slightly before digging in!
✔Helpful tips
- Texture of muffin batter - The batter will be thicker than traditional muffin batter. This is to account for the apple and vegetables releasing moisture upon baking.
- Ways to shred vegetables - You can either shred vegetables using a food processor with a grater attachment or a box/hand-held grater. Use the side with large holes.
- Customize add-ins - Feel free to stir in some chocolate chips, chopped nuts (like walnuts or pecans), chopped dates, or any other add-ins you fancy!
- Adjusting the sweetness - Following this recipe will yield muffins that are 'not too sweet'. To make sweeter muffins, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Baking technique - The muffins will initially be baked at a high temperature to encourage the batter to puff up, resulting in tall muffins. They will then be baked at a lower temperature to ensure the interior is fully cooked.
- Be careful not to overbake - As these muffins are lower in fat, they tend to dry out easily. If a toothpick comes out fairly clean with a few moist crumbs clinging, muffins are done baking.
❄Storing suggestions
Refrigerating - Let zucchini apple carrot muffins cool down completely before storing them in an airtight container. They can be refrigerated for 4-5 days.
Freezing - These muffins are freezable, too! Store them in freezer bags, and they can be frozen for 3 months.
Reheating - To reheat frozen muffins, let them thaw slightly on the countertop for 30 minutes to an hour, or overnight in the fridge. You can then heat them in a conventional oven for 8-10 minutes at 180C/350F.
❔Commonly asked questions
It is unnecessary to peel your zucchini to make these muffins, as the peel will soften after baking. It is high in fiber and provides your muffins with beautiful specks of green!
Some recipes might tell you to squeeze your zucchini before baking to remove some of its moisture. However, you do not need to do that as the moisture released from the zucchini is already accounted in this recipe. Simply shredding them will be sufficient.
If your muffins turned out dry, you might have overbaked them, or baked them at a temperature that is too low. As these muffins are lower in fat, leaving them in the oven for too long will cause them to dry out, yielding crumbly, less tender muffins.
🍽More healthy vegan breakfasts
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📖 Recipe
Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups oat flour Use gluten-free ones if needed (160g)*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup shredded zucchini
- ½ cup shredded apple
- ½ cup applesauce unsweetened preferred
- ½ cup maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
- ¼ cup cashew butter or other nut/seed butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220C/430F. Lightly grease or line a 12-hole muffin pan with muffin liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine together oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, and baking soda.2 ¾ cups oat flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Then, add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix until everything is well incorporated. The batter will be thicker than regular muffin batter.½ cup shredded carrots, ½ cup shredded zucchini, ½ cup shredded apple, ½ cup applesauce, ½ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup cashew butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Spoon batter into each muffin hole about ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180C/350F and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Insert a toothpick down the muffins to check for doneness. They are done baking when the toothpick comes out fairly clean with a few moist crumbs clinging.
- Let muffins set in the pan for a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to allow them to cool down further. Your muffins are ready to be enjoyed!
Notes
- Ways to shred vegetables - You can shred vegetables using a food processor with a grater attachment or a box/hand-held grater. Use the side with large holes.
- Customize add-ins - Feel free to stir in some chocolate chips, chopped nuts (like walnuts or pecans), chopped dates, or any other add-ins you fancy!
- Adjusting the sweetness - Following this recipe will yield muffins that are 'not too sweet'. To make sweeter muffins, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Be careful not to overbake - As these muffins are lower in fat, they tend to dry out easily. The muffins are done baking if a toothpick comes out fairly clean with a few moist crumbs clinging.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
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Penny says
Looks great but I haven't tried it yet. I'd prefer to use the weight method for measuring the veggies but you only put Cup measures in the recipe. Please tell us how much each of those veggies should weigh. Thanks!
Meesha says
Simply press the 'metric' button in the recipe card (right above the ingredient list) and it will convert everything to grams. 😁