Soft and fluffy banana zucchini muffins are moist from mashed bananas and shredded zucchini. These healthier muffins are the perfect amount of sweet for breakfast or snack!
If you love my easy banana bread and zucchini bread, this healthy breakfast muffin recipe is the best of both!
Table of Contents
Hearty Zucchini Banana Muffins
My kids absolutely love these banana zucchini muffins! If you’ve ever had my zucchini muffins, zucchini chocolate bread or my zucchini chocolate chip muffins, you’ll know how mild zucchini is in flavor but it adds a ton of moisture to any baked good. It’s a great way to sneak in some extra veggies into muffins or even my zucchini brownie recipe!
Take these veggie loaded muffins on the go as a portable breakfast, or wrap them up and freeze some for later. I love to rotate them with my chocolate chip banana bread muffins and banana bread muffins for healthy snack ideas after school.
Why This Recipe Works
- So moist and soft. There’s nothing better than breaking open a freshly baked muffin and revealing the pillowy softness.
- Packed with nutrients. These healthier banana zucchini muffins are wholesome and veggie packed! Honey helps reduce the sugar and coconut oil adds healthy fats.
- Make ahead and freezer friendly. Muffins are my favorite baked good to always have on hand!
Ingredients Needed
You may already have on hand what you need to make these easy muffins!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Shredded zucchini, unpeeled: Zucchini skin is very delicate, thin, and easy to digest. Learn how to shred zucchini easily!
- Coconut oil, melted and cooled: Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so you’ll want to melt far enough ahead of time so you allow it to cool.
- Light brown sugar: Pack it into the measuring cup, leaving little space for air. This will be the correct amount needed.
- Honey: Adds a delicious sweetness to the muffin batter and also helps to keep the wet to dry ratio in balance. Maple syrup is an easy substitute.
- Eggs, at room temperature: Starting with room temperature eggs, make for even baking and great results.
- Mashed bananas: The riper the better! Ripe bananas add a natural sweetness and great banana flavor.
- Ground cinnamon: A warm spice that pairs well with zucchini and banana flavor. Nutmeg would work, too!
- Baking staples: All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, or table salt.
How to Make Banana Zucchini Muffins
Making these easy zucchini banana muffins is simple to follow in only a few steps!
- Whisk together wet and dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together coconut oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda.
- Prep zucchini. Place grated zucchini into a paper towel or cheesecloth, wrap then use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can.
- Make muffin batter. Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a wooden spoon to stir until combined. Do not to overmix. Next, fold in the zucchini.
- Bake. Fill prepared muffins tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375°F degrees until lightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool then enjoy!
Tips and Variations
- Ripe bananas: The best type of bananas to use are ripe ones with brown spots. To use frozen bananas, thaw first at room temperature for about an hour and then drain.
- Applesauce: Bananas and zucchini are an amazing flavor combination, but if you do not like bananas, you can use applesauce in place of bananas.
- Add-ins. My kids love it when I add chocolate chips! You can also add in dried fruit including raisins or cranberries, or try chopped walnuts like I do in my banana nut bread recipe. Fresh blueberries would be a delicious just like in my lemon blueberry zucchini bread.
- Filling your muffin tin: An ice cream scoop is a great way to fill your muffin tin with less mess!
- Mini muffins: Similar to my mini banana muffins, start checking for doneness at 10 minutes.
Storing and Freezing Banana Zucchini Muffins
To keep these banana zucchini muffins moist, store muffins in a Ziploc bag for up to 4 days. Place a few folded paper towels in the bag to absorb the moisture.
To freeze, cool completely then wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and place them in a freezer safe bag for up to two months. Thaw at room temp before unwrapping as this will help retain their moisture.
Love homemade muffin recipes? Make blueberry muffins, apricot yogurt muffins or these easy breakfast muffins, next!
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Banana Zucchini Muffins
Video
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups shredded unpeeled zucchini (about 2 small or 1 large zucchini)
- ½ cup coconut oil , melted and cooled
- ¾ cup light brown sugar , packed
- ½ cup honey
- 3 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour *see notes
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt , or table salt
- 1 cup mashed banana (about 3 medium brown bananas)
- 1 cup chocolate chips , optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners. Spray with nonstick spray.
- Place the zucchini in a cheese cloth or a paper towel. Squeeze out as much water as possible.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, brown sugar, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the zucchini, mashed bananas, and chocolate chips, if using.
- Fill the muffin liners 2/3 of the way full. If adding chocolate chips, you can also sprinkle some evenly over the top of the muffins.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Flour: In place of all-purpose flour you can use a white whole wheat flour or kamut flour (I would use 1/4 cup less flour for these as they are thicker). I’ve also replaced 1 cup flour with 1 cup of old fashioned oats with success.
- Oil: In place of coconut oil, use applesauce, very light olive oil, or canola oil.
- Extras: My kids love when I add chocolate chips, you can can also add in extras like dried fruit, chopped nuts and coconut.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
FAQs
Gluten-free flour is a tricky one to use as a 1:1 replacement for all-purpose flour without altering the other ingredients. I haven’t tried it myself, but you could give it a shot using fine almond flour (not almond meal), or oat flour. You could also try gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose flour.
The taste and texture will differ slightly and you may get a different texture in the end. If you do try a gluten-free alternative, let me know!
Absolutely! The great thing about these banana zucchini muffins is you can tweak things to make them as healthy as you need them. Add some chia seeds or flax seeds to the batter. Sprinkle a bit of hemp hearts on top before baking. Swap the chocolate chips for cacao nibs or use dark chocolate chips.
You don’t need to peel the zucchini for these zucchini banana bread muffins! Zucchini skin is thin, edible and has a high concentration of antioxidants. Just grate it with the skin to save a step and reap the health benefits. Of course, if you have picky eaters who might turn their nose up at any fleck of green, that is up to your discretion.
You bet. Once completely cooled, you can store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter or pop them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to warm up.
Categorized as: American, Bread, Breakfast, Freezer-Friendly, Kid-Friendly, Muffins, Muffins, Nut-Free, Snacks, Sweet Breakfast, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Halved the recipe and made this into three mini loaves and baked around 30 minutes. Turned out great!
Thanks for the review!
Loved everything about these! My kids devoured them and I was totally okay with that, because it meant they were getting an extra serving of fruit and veggies :)
These banana zucchini muffins are awesome! This a great recipe for using up leftover zucchini and ripe bananas. They taste so good and are super easy to make too!
I dont think that I ever thought of combining these two into a muffin, but it is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
Love this combo! Even better than our usual zucchini muffins. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Allison!
This is such a great way to hide zucchini for my picky toddler who loves bananas! Thanks for the recipe!
Exactly! You are so welcome :)