Zucchini Carrot Muffins
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These Zucchini Carrot Muffins are naturally sweetened, veggie-packed, and full of wholesome ingredients like oats, flaxseed, and banana. Perfect for a quick breakfast, snack, or lunchbox treat.
Table of Contents
4 Reasons You’ll Love Zucchini Carrot Muffins
- Nutritious: Thanks to whole wheat flour, flaxseed, oats, zucchini, carrots, and bananas, you’re getting lots of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
- Filling: Thanks to all that fiber, these are a hearty, satiating snack or breakfast. Send in lunchboxes, too.
- Use Up Produce: Have frozen zucchini, carrots, or bananas to use up? This is the perfect recipe!
- Freezer-Friendly: Make a double or triple batch and freeze to have on hand for quick breakfasts, snacks, or lunches. We include directions below.
Polly’s Tips for Success
- For even more sneaky vegetables, add a handful of spinach to the blender with the rest of the wet ingredients.
- For a warmer spice flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of apple pie spice. I used this once because I was out of cinnamon and it was delicious!
- Use a silicon muffin pan or silicone muffin liners. After testing the recipe both ways, we found that baking in silicone yielded better results.
- Use the toothpick method to determine doneness. When baking with produce, timing can vary a lot.
- Double the batch. These make a great grab-and-go breakfast so stock up
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make Zucchini Carrot Muffins.
Ingredient Notes
- Buy and use pre-grated carrots to help cut down on prep time.
- I always use white whole wheat flour when I bake and a recipe calls for whole wheat flour. It’s lighter than regular whole wheat flour.
- You can use quick oats as a substitute for whole oats.
- Light brown sugar or coconut sugar can be used in place of dark brown sugar.
- Any neutral oil (vegetable, canola, etc.) can be used in place of the avocado oil.
- Honey can be used in place of maple syrup, although it is a bit more dense.
How to Make Zucchini Carrot Muffins
Here is a quick overview of how these muffins come together but you’ll find the full printable recipe at the bottom of this post.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, mix together flours, flaxseed, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Wet Ingredients: In a blender, blend together milk, oil, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, chopped zucchini, grated carrots, and chopped banana.
- Combine: Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until ingredients are combined.
- Bake: Fill greased muffin tins with 1/4 cup of the batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes.
How to Freeze Muffins
Here’s how to freeze these muffins:
- Bake as directed.
- Let them cool completely.
- Place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag and seal tightly–squeezing out as much air as possible.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Read this entire post on how to store and freeze muffins for more info!
FAQs
How do I chop up the zucchini and grate the carrot before blending?
In our recipe testing, we found that the vegetables blended up much better when broken down a bit first. This is especially true for the carrots.
But if you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, I think you could toss in chunks of carrots and zucchini and blend with no problem.
How long will muffins last at room temperature?
If you place muffins in an airtight situation, the moisture will migrate to the top, resulting into a squishy muffin top. But if you surround them with paper towels, they will absorb some of the moisture trying to escape and they should be good at room temperature for at least three days.
What if I don’t have a blender?
You can grate the zucchini and carrot and mash the banana and combine the wet ingredients together in a bowl before adding to the dry ingredients. The muffins may have a slightly different texture but that’s okay.
More Good-for-You Muffins You’ll Love!
How to Video
Zucchini Carrot Muffins
These zucchini carrot muffins are a great way to include some sneaky nutrition into a kid-favorite treat. Perfect for a healthy breakfast or snack.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (recommend: white whole wheat flour variety)
- 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (sub: light brown sugar or coconut sugar)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (sub: melted coconut oil or light olive oil)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup large diced zucchini (3/4 inch diced pieces; about 1/2 a medium-sized zucchini)
- 1/2 cup grated carrots (about 1 medium-sized carrot)
- 3/4 cup sliced ripe banana (3/4 inch slices; about 1 large banana — if using previously frozen banana, drain off any liquid first)
- Optional: 1 cup chopped walnuts (chocolate chips, or raisins)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin* or line it with paper or silicone liners.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, mix together flours, flaxseed, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Wet Ingredients: In a blender, blend together milk, oil, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, chopped zucchini, grated carrots, and chopped banana.
- Combine: Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until ingredients are combined. Stir in optional nuts, chocolate chips, or raisins, if desired. Do not over-mix.
- Portion: Fill greased muffin tins with 1/4 cup of the batter.
- Bake: 20-22 minutes for one batch at a time (or 22-24 minutes if baking two batches at the same time), until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Note: Silicone pans will take a few minutes longer to bake.
- Cool: Let cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes in the tin. Remove muffins and place on the cooling rack for a bit longer, or serve warm with butter or cream cheese. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
Freezer Instructions
- How to Freeze For Later: Follow recipe as directed and let muffins cool. Place in a gallon-sized freezer bag in a single layer and freeze flat. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- How to Prepare From Frozen: Wrap frozen muffin a moist paper towel and microwave in 30-second increments until it is warmed through.
Notes/Tips
- If you don’t have a blender, you can grate the zucchini and mash the banana and combine the wet ingredients together in a bowl before adding to the dry ingredients. The muffins may have a different texture but that’s okay.
- The oats can be blended with the wet ingredients if you prefer a muffin without the texture of whole oats.
- If you have more of a sweet tooth, add mini chocolate chips to the batter.
- We retested this old recipe several times, improved, and updated it in June 2025. If you still want to old recipe, you can download it here.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 muffin | Calories: 231 kcal (12%) | Carbohydrates: 31 g (10%) | Protein: 5 g (10%) | Fat: 10 g (15%) | Cholesterol: 21 mg (7%) | Sodium: 179 mg (8%) | Fiber: 4 g (17%) | Sugar: 14 g (16%)
If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe!
I gave these a great review back in April but just made them today for a young friend who requested them as her Christmas gift! Merry Christmas and don’t forget to mix in some yummy healthy muffins with all those treats.
Aw, how wonderful that your friend requested these for Christmas! That’s high praise, if you ask me. 🙂
I’ve made these muffins many times and they never disappoint. Everyone seems to love them from little kids to picky adults. I love that they are so full of healthy ingredients. I follow the suggestion to purée the veggies and usually use light brown sugar because that’s what I tend to have in the pantry. Yum! Thanks for this great recipe.
Such high praise Mary. So glad it is loved by all!
Turned out great. Love the ingredients.
Thanks Russ.
My family’s favourite!
Love! Thanks Brittany.
These muffins are perfect – I loved them and so did my teenagers. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out great. They are healthy and filling!
Glad to hear even the teenagers loved them! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave a review Erin.
The first time I made these I did not realize the recipe made 24 muffins, and the instructions don’t say anything about making two batches. Do people have a muffin tin that fits 24 full-sized muffins? Or are these meant to be mini muffins? A quarter cup of batter seems high for mini muffins.
The first time I had already used most of the batter before realizing they made 24, so I just filled them each a bit more. I had to cook them longer and they were big but good. I just tried again and carefully measured 1/4 cup per batter and I had enough for exactly 17 muffins?? What am I doing wrong? This time the muffins were raw after 15 minutes. I had to cook them for over 20 minutes, and they were still a bit soggy on the bottom. I did use those aluminum muffin liners. Maybe that was the problem? They tasted good but I had to put them back in the oven for a few minutes just on the rack (no liners or muffin tin) to crisp up the bottoms. Help?!?
Update to my comment: Thank you for trying this recipe and leaving detailed feedback on this older one! I retested this old recipe (one of the first on the blog!) this morning and made some updates, so thank you for pointing out some issues. The muffins turned out well, but I did only yield 18 muffins and they cooked for 16-18 minutes to get done. I also added much more specific sizing for things like the banana, eggs, etc. I made those changes to the recipe and hope that helps! Thanks again for taking the time to leave a comment. We always want our recipes to be the “best of the best”!
Thank you Rachel. I will try the updated recipe and report back.
Please do! I’d really appreciate it! I’m always learning.
I made these again using the metric /weight measurements. They made 18 muffins and cooked in the specified amount of time. It would be nice to have weight measurements for the zucchini and banana as well! The only thing I did differently was use 175g sugar instead of 200g. I thought they were still plenty sweet, as did my 8-year-old. My husband added jam. We all enjoyed them. You can definitely taste the flax and walnuts. I don’t normally live the flavor of flax, but I enjoyed these muffins. I freeze the leftovers and give them to my kid in her school lunchbox. They make her happy.
Thanks for the detailed feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to do that. Glad you enjoyed them!
so good!
Thanks for the review, Melinda. Really happy to hear you liked it!
Delicious, made exactly as written! Thank you so much. 🙂
Wonderful! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback, Katrina.
I want to make these but I don’t have carrots. Any ideas on how I can substitute? Thanks for your wonderful recipes! I especially love your new freezer cookbook! I use it often. ?
Hi Carley. So glad you’re enjoying our cookbook! You could sub more shredded zucchini for the carrot in these. Hope that helps.
I love the sound of your newest recipe for zucchini and fax seed muffins but they call for banana, I HATE banana’s but I am also allergic to them, can I replace them with something else, like more carrots and zucchini or raisins
Hi Dorothy, you can certainly replace banana with other veggies or fruit purees like applesauce, finely shredded zucchini, or pumpkin puree. I hope that helps!
I had confused two different recipes, duh! Sorry ! I was thinking of A scone recipe that needs to be baked at 400. Love this recipe, thank you !
I love this recipe, but I really think you made a mistake about the baking temperature. I recall the previous time I saw you post this recipe, it said you were supposed to bake the muffins at 400°. I’ve tried baking on the 350 and they don’t come out at all.
Did 400 degrees work for you? I went back and checked the original recipe and it says 350. I made them just the other day and that temperature worked. I suppose altitude and/or just oven temperature differences could account for some of the issue. I don’t bake any muffins at 400 where I live, though. They always burn.
The muffins look yummy but what’s really great about this entry is the adorable twinkle in Hannah’s eyes.
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Looks yummy and healthy–my fav.
Thank you for sharing all your delicious and healthy recipies! Here is one of my favorites, almost identical to the Morning Glory Muffins at HyVee or Dunn Bros. I usually substitute dried apricots & dried cranberries for the dates & pineapple.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/morning-glory-muffins-10000001634764/
These look delicious! I’ll have to try them. I’m in need of some sneaky ways to get my kiddo to eat his vegetables 🙂