Zucchini Applesauce Muffins

Inspired by my zucchini carrot apple muffins, these zucchini applesauce muffins are our current favorite treat! Zucchini adds a boost of nutrients to baked goods and provides moisture, making these muffins soft and tender. And the good thing is, you can’t taste the zucchini, not even a little!

💚Why you will love this recipe

• Makes a great grab-and-go breakfast or snack on busy workdays 
• A delicious way to get in your daily dose of fruits and veg! 
•  Wholesome, high in fiber, and lower in sugar than traditional muffins 
• Stores well and are freezable, making them great for meal prep

🥛What you will need

📃Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Zucchini - The star ingredient of this recipe! The easiest way to grate zucchini is by using the box grater. There is no need to peel it before grating - the skin gives the muffins beautiful specks of green! 
• Oat flour - Use a certified gluten-free one if you are allergic or intolerant to gluten. You can make homemade oat flour easily by whisking oats in a high-speed blender. 
• Maple syrup - Can be substituted with another liquid sweetener like agave syrup or honey. 
• Cashew butter - Other nut butters like peanut butter or almond butter can be used in place. Choose runny and drippy natural nut butter instead of the semi-solid conventional ones. You can also use seed butter like tahini or sunflower seed butter to make nut-free muffins.

🔪How to make

Shred your zucchini - Shred your zucchini using a box grater. You DO NOT need to squeeze out the juice of zucchini after shredding. Set aside. 

Making muffin batter - Add all wet ingredients (applesauce, maple syrup, cashew butter, vanilla extract) in a mixing bowl and mix well. Then, gently stir in flour, zucchini, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix until everything is well incorporated.

Baking - Fill each muffin hole of a 12-hole muffin pan ¾ way through, and optionally, sprinkle on some rolled oats. Bake for 8 minutes at 220C/430F, then reduce temperature to 180C/350F and bake for another 13-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cooling - Transfer muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool down to room temperature. Your zucchini applesauce muffins are ready to be enjoyed!

✔Helpful tips

• Skip peeling zucchini - It might be tempting to peel off the skin of your zucchini, but you do not need to do so! The peel is flavorless and will soften after baking. 
• Shredding zucchini - Shred your zucchini using a box grater. You don’t need to squeeze shredded zucchini. The water content will provide moisture to your muffins, yielding soft and tender zucchini muffins. 
• Do not overbake - Overbaked muffins tend to be dry and crumbly. Once the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out fairly clean after being inserted down the middle, you can pull them out of the oven. 
• Cooling muffins - I recommend cooling them on a cooling rack. This prevents water vapor from gathering at the bottom hence preventing soggy muffins. 
• Oven temperature - We will be baking muffins at a high temperature for the first couple of minutes to ensure they rise rapidly, yielding a puffy dome-shaped top. But do remember to lower the temperature afterward, or you might risk burning them!

✨Variations and add-ins

Make it gluten-free - Use certified gluten-free oat flour instead of regular ones. Alternatively, you can purchase gluten-free oats and grind them into flour using a high-speed blender. 

Chopped nuts - Walnuts and pecans work particularly well in this recipe, but you can add whatever sounds good! Remember to chop them into smaller pieces before adding them to the batter. Use up to ½ cup.

Raisins and sultanas - Add some extra natural sweetness to your applesauce zucchini muffins. Use about ½ cup.

Chocolate chips - Pretty self-explanatory! You can also chop up your favorite chocolate bar to make chocolate chunk muffins. Add about ½ cup or so.

Spices - Pumpkin spice, nutmeg, apple pie spice, cardamom, or whatever sounds good! Bear in mind that a little goes a long way, as the flavor of dried spices can be intense.

❄Storing suggestions

It is crucial that you let applesauce zucchini muffins cool down completely before storing them. Or not the steam released will cause your muffin to turn damp and soggy.

Refrigerating - Store muffins in an airtight container, which can be refrigerated for 4-5 days.

Freezing - As mentioned above, these muffins freeze well! You can store them in freezer bags or containers before freezing them. They can be frozen for three months.

Reheating - If reheating from frozen, let muffins thaw slightly first, about 30 minutes to an hour on the countertop. You can then heat them in an oven preheated to 180C/350F for 8-10 minutes or until they are thoroughly warmed.

Or, you could heat them in a microwave by first thawing muffins using the "defrost" function, then heat them on high at 15 seconds intervals.

❔Commonly asked questions

🍎More recipes using applesauce

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