These zucchini muffins are delightful and sweet! Greek yogurt makes them ultra moist, and turbinado sugar adds a satisfying crunchy topping.

It’s the time of year where everyone we know has an overabundant zucchini plant. So why not shred it and bake it up into some tasty treats? These zucchini muffins really are the best way to use this green veggie! These muffins have a little healthy twist: instead of being sugar and oil laden, they’re moistened with Greek yogurt and sweetened with just enough turbinado sugar. The large sugar grains also add a tasty crunch to the top of the muffins! Ready to get baking?

How to make zucchini muffins

These zucchini muffins are so easy to whip up! They use standard muffin ingredients like flour, eggs, and oil: but they’ve got less oil than usual. The secret? Greek yogurt! It makes for perfectly moist muffins, and the shredded zucchini also helps to cut back on the oil. They also have less sugar than the standard zucchini muffin. This recipe is be just sweet enough so you feel like it’s a muffin, but not so sweet that it’s like a cupcake! Here’s how to make these easy zucchini muffins:

Whisk together the wet ingredients: oil, turbinado sugar, eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla.
Sprinkle in the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir together, then add the shredded zucchini.
Bake: Place in muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Variation: gluten free and vegan zucchini muffins

Looking for gluten free or vegan zucchini muffins? We’ve got an option too: our Healthy Zucchini Muffins! These muffins are made from 100% rolled oats: they’re blender muffins! Here’s what to do:

Gluten free zucchini muffins: Use our Healthy Zucchini Muffins: you’ll whiz up the ingredients in a blender. There’s no flour: just rolled oats! They come out beautifully fluffy.
Vegan zucchini muffins: Use Healthy Zucchini Muffins and substitute flax eggs for the eggs.

Why is zucchini used in baking?

Zucchini is often used as a replacement for oil in baked goods. Why? It’s much lower calorie than oil and performs a similar function: bringing in moisture. Most of zucchini is water, so it disappears right into cakes and breads, leaving the baked good perfectly hydrated.

Because using shredded zucchini can stand in for some oil, these zucchini muffins have a low oil content: just over 1 teaspoon of oil per muffin. Thanks, zucchini!

Want another baked recipe with zucchini? Try this Chocolate Zucchini Cake: rich, moist and ultra chocolaty.

What is turbinado sugar?

This zucchini muffin recipe is sweetened just enough, and not so much that it tastes like a cupcake! In this recipe we’ve used turbinado sugar because of its caramel-y flavor and crunchy texture. Turbinado sugar is raw sugar with large, light brown crystals. It’s less processed than refined white sugar, because it’s boiled only once to remove the molasses. Because of that, it has a little more complexity in flavor than refined sugar.

Is turbinado sugar healthier than refined sugar? Turbinado sugar and refined sugar have the same grams of sugar and number of calories. In terms of nutrients, turbinado sugar has only trace amounts (sources). So, turbinado sugar is not healthier. But it has a unique flavor and texture, and is perfect for adding a bit of crunch to the top of baked goods.

Want more muffins with turbinado sugar? Our apple muffins have a crunchy streusel topping that’s to die for.

How to store zucchini muffins

What’s the best way to store these zucchini muffins? It depends on how long you think they’ll be around. Here’s what we recommend:

1 day: Leave the muffins on a cooling rack and cover with a clean, dry dish towel. This helps the texture of the topping intact.
Up to 4 days: Place a paper towel in the bottom of a sealed container, then place the muffins in and place a paper towel on top. The paper towels absorb any moisture, which helps to retain the topping texture.
Longer than 4 days: Freeze these muffins in a sealable container and store up to 3 months.

More zucchini recipes

Got an overabundance of zucchini? Get ready! Here are some of our favorite zucchini recipes using that popular green veggie:

Easy Zucchini Boats Features an Italian-style filling of tomato sauce and cheese.
Perfect Sauteed Zucchini The BEST sauteed zucchini that will have everyone talking! Just 10 minutes in a hot pan makes this green vegetable truly irresistible.
Zucchini Lasagna Truly the best! Roasted zucchini noodles and three cheeses make just the right Italian flavor.
Squash and Zucchini Casserole A cozy summer side dish, it’s topped with crunchy breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
Roasted Zucchini and Squash or Grilled Zucchini and Squash Bake or grill them until tender with Italian herbs: perfection!
Apple Zucchini Muffins Add apple to make this gluten-free muffin irresistible.

This easy zucchini muffins recipe is…

Vegetarian.