Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins – a muffin with a fruit and a vegetable that is both tender and sweet. Perfect with breakfast or as a dessert treat.
Apple Zucchini Muffins
Serve these Apple Zucchini Muffins for breakfast with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cups or Ham & Potato Breakfast Casserole. OR eat them all day as a snack.
Did you have a good weekend? I stayed in the house all weekend. I haven’t done that in months. Julia and I are both dealing with colds so I thought it would be best to quarantine ourselves. No errands, no walks, I haven’t left the house since Friday.
And I’m not even going stir crazy.
She’s turning into the best little sidekick. We had so much fun.
We baked (these muffins, among other things), cleaned, painted (mostly pictures of her GG & Papa, per her request), built tents, read every one of her books (multiple times), perfected her “uh oh” and “aw man”, decorated for fall, and watched a panda documentary (Pandas: The Journey Home on Netflix – super cute – you should watch it).
APPLE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS INGREDIENTS
- Sugar – Typical white, granulated sugar.
- Vegetable Oil – Melted coconut oil will likely work as well, but I haven’t tested it.
- Eggs – Two large eggs.
- Vanilla Extract – I know vanilla extract is pricey right now, but it’s worth it and so much better than imitation!
- Flour – I use all purpose flour.
- Cinnamon – Use a good quality cinnamon for the best flavor.
- Baking Soda – For rise.
- Baking Powder – Another leavening agent.
- Zucchini – You need 1 cup of shredded zucchini for this apple zucchini muffin recipe. I find this to be 1 medium zucchini. You’ll grate it, peel and all.
- Apple – Use your favorite. I usually have gala apples on hand and they’re good for baking. I peel it before I shred it.
- Turbinado Sugar – Turbinado sugar adds a great texture to the top of the muffins. You can use brown sugar if you don’t have any on hand, or skip it.
These muffins came about Saturday morning when I first got the urge to bake and knew we had apples and zucchini. Immediately after we finished them, Julia and I split three of them. They’re sweet and moist and pretty perfect.
TOOLS FOUND ON AMAZON TO HELP YOU
- Cupcake/Muffin Pan – I make cupcakes and muffins all the time so I like to have nice pans.
- Cupcake/Muffin Liners – I like to get the colorful variety pack to customize them to whatever I’m baking for (which is usually just because I feel like it, but whatever)
- My favorite spatulas – I might have a small spatula addiction. I have way too many but I usually reach for these.
- Grater – You’ll need a good box grater to grate both the apple and the zucchini. I have a mini one and a full size that I use interchangeably.
MORE WAYS TO BAKE WITH APPLE AND ZUCCHINI
Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Zucchini Brownies
Peanut Butter Zucchini Bread
Apple Walnut Crumb Cake
Apple Zucchini Quick Bread
WATCH HOW EASY THESE APPLE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS ARE TO MAKE
Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup zucchini shredded
- 1 cup apple shredded
- turbinado sugar for sprinkling on tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with 12 liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Add in flour, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder, and stir until just combined.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini and apple.
- Use a cookie scoop to spoon the batter evenly among the 12 cups.
- Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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These were good! I made these using only brown sugar (I am a broke college student don’t want to buy white sugar) and pecans and chestnuts instead of walnuts. I saw this recipe and immediately made them. So good!
I didn’t add nuts but that sounds good =)
How could I substitute honey for the sugar? How much should I use?
I haven’t tried but a quick Google search gave me this that I would reference: http://www.thekitchn.com/4-rules-for-successfully-swapping-honey-for-sugar-in-any-baked-goods-230156
Could I freeze these after baking? If so how would you suggest reheating?
I have not froze these but I don’t see why not.
Bake, let cool completely, put them in freezer bags with the air pushed out. They should keep a couple months, at least.
When you’re ready to eat them, I’d put them in the fridge overnight to thaw or I think straight from the freezer to the microwave for about 20-30 seconds will do.
I don’t have zucchini but can I put carrots in these?
I’ve never tested with carrot so I’m not sure. Zucchini is the base here so it’s pretty important…but let me know if you try!
Great and super easy recipe! I swapped out the oil with home canned, chunky applesauce and did 2 cups of zucchini as I didn’t have any apples in the house. Turned out delicious and nice and moist. Definitely a keeper!
I love that applesauce swap. Thank you for reporting back!
I’ve made these twice now. I used 100% whole wheat flour and substituted in 1/2 cup of coconut sugar for the 3/4 cup brown sugar. I baked them in a mini muffin pan for 20 minutes. Both times they were absolutely perfect and got wolfed by my toddlers. This is a new favourite!
I’m so happy to hear that – thanks so much for reporting back!
This recipe is a great find! Swapped the Vegetable Oil for Coconut Oil, and Sugar for Xylitol. Very moist and delicious!
Thanks so much for reporting back with those swaps! 🙂
I have made Zucchini Bread for years and now I see additives tat will make any one ejoy. I love watching these type recipes eaten and them telling the party “Glad you enjoyed my Zucchini Bread” A lot of people turn up their nose when first told ingredients as they state “I do not like Zucchini”. I make they enjoy and make more often having request to make more so them can take some home. We aalso fix casseroles with the Zucchini and never have any lef. I vevegtable we have all like alot.
Yes! Try my zucchini brownies – no one would ever guess they have zucchini in them!
I added a cup of my sourdough discard, used just a cup of flour and only one egg. They came out great!!
Yay 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
They’re in the oven now. Based on the batter taste, they should be scrumptious. I added a pinch of salt and used brown sugar on top because I don’t buy coarse sugar.
One of your previous commenters asked if she could substitute carrots for zucchini, and the answer is yes. However, that would make them carrot apple cinnamon muffins instead, lol. I’ve done the substitution in other recipes with only good results.
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thanks, Cathy! I hope you liked them 🙂
WE are getting so much zucchini in our garden. I need more recipes to use it up. I will be freezing some, and sharing some.
I have many zucchini recipes to share! Zucchini recipes
Very easy to make. Doubling the recipe is right there. Best part they are delicious.
Thanks, Lisa!
I made these and they were great! Do you have a recipe for zucchini carrot muffins?
Thanks, Norma! I’m glad you liked them. I don’t have zucchini carrot (I’m kinda allergic to carrots lol) but I’m thinking you could probably swap the apple for shredded carrot in these. I haven’t tested it though.
Made the batter last night and popped them in the oven this morning. Delicious. So moist and just the right amount of sweetness. Only had 1 small apple so grated extra zucchini to make a full cup. Family enjoyed them and will be making again. Thank you for sharing a quick and delicious recipe
Good morning 🙂 I’m so glad you liked them, thanks for letting me know!
Do you have any high altitude adjustments?
I hope these tips will help!
They were so moist that my husband thought I maybe had not cooked them quite enough. I think it might just be because there is so much liquid in the zucchini and apples it makes the muffins super moist. I really like the flavours so thought next time I might squeeze out some of the water from the zucchini and see how that works. Any thoughts?
Good morning. If your zucchini and/or apples are especially wet then yes, squeezing out any excess moisture would be a good idea. I haven’t had to do that but they can vary so much.
Delicious & moist
Thanks Penny!
These are tasty but too sweet for me. Will make again, but use only 1/2 c sugar
Can I use frozen shredded zucchini? If so, do I squeeze the water out before measuring?
I haven’t tested but yes, once you thaw it, I would squeeze out any excess water.