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    Home » Breakfast

    Zucchini Applesauce Muffins

    Published: May 15, 2023 by Meesha · This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    2 images of muffins on plate with tray of muffins in the background with text between the images.
    Applesauce muffins arranged on a grey background with cup of coffee and teacloth beside with text overlay.
    Zucchini muffins in a pink muffin tin with text on the bottom half.

    These zucchini applesauce muffins are tender, moist, and irresistibly delicious! Naturally vegan and gluten-free, they make a great healthy breakfast or snack. This one-bowl muffin recipe is freezer-friendly, making them perfect for meal prep. 

    2 applesauce muffins stack on each other with tray of muffins and jar of oats in the background.

    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!

    Jump to:
    • 💚Why you will love this recipe
    • 🥛What you will need
    • 📃Ingredient notes and substitutions
    • 🔪How to make
    • ✔Helpful tips
    • ✨Variations and add-ins
    • ❄Storing suggestions
    • ❔Commonly asked questions
    • 🍎More recipes using applesauce
    • 📖 Recipe

    💚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

    Ingredients needed like flour, zucchini, maple syrup, applesauce and cashew butter on a grey background.

    📃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.

    Wet ingredients in a white bowl on a checkered teacloth with a fork beside.
    A bowl of muffin batter with a fork beside on a white checkered teacloth.

    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.

    A pan of unbaked muffins topped with oats.
    A pan of baked muffins on a white folded teacloth.

    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.

    Zucchini muffins topped with oats in a pink muffin tin.

    ❄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

    Do I have to peel zucchini for muffins?

    It is unnecessary to do so, as zucchini's skin will soften and melt into your muffins after baking. Plus, the skin is incredibly nutritious and provides muffins with beautiful tiny specks of green.

    What is the best way to grate zucchini for muffins?

    The easiest way to grate your zucchini to make these zucchini applesauce muffins is by grating them with a box grater. Use the side with the largest holes.

    What can applesauce be substituted with?

    Applesauce can be substituted with equal amounts of mashed bananas, pumpkin puree, or sweet potato puree. If using pumpkin or sweet potato puree, add a splash of milk as they are slightly drier.

    Do I have to squeeze my zucchini before using it?

    No, the water content of zucchini provides some moisture to the muffins, yielding soft and tender muffins.

    Muffins arranged on a grey surface with cup of coffee and a white teacloth beside.

    🍎More recipes using applesauce

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      Vegan Banana Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins
    • Stack of applesauce pancakes on a plate with a fork with jar of coffee in the background.
      Vegan Applesauce Oatmeal Pancakes
    • A stack of 5 oatmeal cookies with jar of oats and more cookies in the background.
      Chewy Vegan Applesauce Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Cookies
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      Healthy Eggless Coffee Cake

    If you did make this recipe, do leave a rating and comment down below, we love hearing from you! Subscribe to My Plantiful Cooking to get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get the latest updates. 😉

    📖 Recipe

    2 muffins stacked on top of each other with tray of muffins and jar of oats in the background.

    Zucchini Applesauce Muffins

    Meesha
    These zucchini applesauce muffins are tender, moist, and irresistibly delicious! Naturally vegan and gluten-free, they make a great healthy breakfast or snack. This one-bowl muffin recipe is freezer-friendly, making them perfect for meal prep.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 22 minutes mins
    Total Time 32 minutes mins
    Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine American
    Servings 9 muffins
    Calories 206 kcal

    Equipment

    • box grater
    • Mixing bowl
    • 12 hole muffin pan
    • cooling rack

    Ingredients
     
     

    Wet ingredients

    • 1 cup applesauce unsweetened
    • ½ cup maple syrup or other liquid sweeteners
    • ¼ cup cashew butter or other nut/seed butters
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Dry ingredients

    • 2 ½ cups oat flour use gluten-free ones if needed*
    • ⅓ cup shredded zucchini (no need to blot)**
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat your oven to 220C/430F. Line muffin tray with liners or lightly grease with oil.
    • Mix all wet ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
      1 cup applesauce, ½ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup cashew butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Next, add in all dry ingredients. Mix until everything is well combined. The batter will be on the thicker side.
      2 ½ cups oat flour, ⅓ cup shredded zucchini, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • Using a spoon or ice-cream scoop, fill muffin tins with batter about ¾ way full. You should get about 9-10 muffins. Optionally, sprinkle on some oats on top.
    • Fill unused muffin tins with a few tablespoons of water.
    • 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 when inserted down the middle and muffins are lightly browned.
    • Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to allow them to cool down further.

    Notes

    *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. 
     
    **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! 
     
    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.
    • Storing leftovers - Leftover muffins can be refrigerated for 3-4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months in freezer bags. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 206kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 5gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 211mgPotassium: 217mgFiber: 2gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 26IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 119mgIron: 2mg

    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.

    Did you make this recipe ?Tag @myplantifulcooking on Instagram !

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