Zucchini Applesauce Muffins (Vegan)

This is my first-ever recipe using zucchini in baked goods, and I regret not trying it earlier! You can barely taste the zucchini, and it gives extra moisture and softness to these muffins.

💚Why you will love this recipe

• Great way to sneak in fruits and veg - Made from freshly grated zucchini and applesauce, these vegan zucchini muffins are a tasty way to get in your daily dose of vitamins and fiber!
• Wholesome and healthy - They are perfectly moist and sweet without the use of oil or refined sugar.
• Can be made ahead of time - Applesauce zucchini muffins store and freeze well, so you can make them on weekends to be enjoyed throughout the week.
• Easily portable and transport well - Making them great as an on-the-go breakfast or snack! These muffins are also great to pack for picnics or long road trips.

📃Notes/substitutions

• Oat flour - You can easily make your own at home by blending up some oats in a high speed blender. Use gluten-free ones, if needed.
• Maple syrup - Feel free to use other liquid sweetener in place like agave syrup or honey, if not vegan. DO NOT substitute with granulated sugar as it will mess up the wet to dry ingredient ratio.
• Cashew butter - Other nut butters like peanut butter or almond butter can be used in place. Choose runny and drippy natural nut butters as opposed to the semi-solid conventional ones. You can also use seed butter like tahini or sunflower seed butter to make muffins nut-free.

🔪How to make

Here is a quick run-down of the steps involved to make these applesauce zucchini muffins. The full detailed instructions will be in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Preheat your oven to 220C/430F. Mix all wet ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Next, add in all dry ingredients. Stir to mix.

Fill muffin tins with batter about ¾ way full. You should get about 9-10 muffins.

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.

Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to allow them to cool down further.

✔Helpful tips

• Use a kitchen scale to weigh out zucchini and flour, if possible for the best result. If you are using measuring cups, follow the spoon and level method. Avoid scooping flour directly from bag or pack flour into your cups.
• Grate zucchini using a box grater or food processor with grating plate attached to make the process easier and quicker.
• For this recipe, you DO NOT need to squeeze excess liquid out of your zucchini.
• We will be baking muffins at a high temperature for the first couple of minutes to ensure that they rise rapidly, yielding a puffy dome-shaped top. But do remember to lower the temperature afterwards or you might risk burning them!
• Avoid overbaking your applesauce zucchini muffins. They might turn dry and crumbly. To test for doneness, simply stick a toothpick down the middle of your muffins. Once it comes out clean, they are done baking.
• Transfer baked muffins from tin to cooling rack after 5 minutes or so to prevent the gathering of water vapor, which will result in soggy bottoms.

✨Variations/add-ins

You can easily spice up your applesauce zucchini muffins by throwing in some fun add-ins! Here are some ideas to get you started -

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

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

Chocolate chips - Pretty self-explanatory, I would say! You can also chop up your favorite chocolate bar to make chocolate chunk muffins. You can add in about ½ cup or so.

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

❄Storing/freezing suggestions

It is important 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, and they can be refrigerated for 4-5 days.

Freezing - As mentioned above, these muffins freeze really well! You can either store them in freezer bags or sealed containers before freezing them. They can be frozen for 3 months.

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

Or, you could heat them up 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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