Enjoy your favorite fall baked goods with no guilt! Healthy Zucchini Muffins contain no oil, no refined sugar, and no flour. The oil and sugar are replaced with ripe bananas and the flour is replaced with whole grain oats. Zucchini, cinnamon, and mini chocolate chips (optional) give the muffins classic zucchini bread flavor.
Night Owl or Early Bird?
Are you a morning person? I’m more of a night owl. I tend to stay up late after getting the kids to bed. Sometimes I’m up to get some work done and sometimes I’m up just to watch trashy television.
Whoops!
Luckily I have coffee and a morning loving husband to get me moving in the a.m. He’s kind enough to bring me a cup of coffee in bed so I can wake up then stumble around half awake trying to get my little people ready for school.
Easy Breakfast Choices
In my opinion, 6 a.m. is a bad time to haul out the cast iron skillet and cook up a hot breakfast. I save that treat for the weekends. On hectic weekday mornings we are stuck with cereal, oatmeal, or other easy breakfast choices.
My kids are carb lovers and will happily devour bagels and muffins each morning. But baked goods full of white sugar and white flour leads to a mid morning energy crash… right when they should be primed and ready to learn.
My solution: healthy oatmeal muffins that contain no oil, no refined sugar, and no flour.
How to Make Healthy Zucchini Muffins
A muffin recipe with no flour and no sugar may sound a little questionable but I promise you they are moist, delicious muffins that are full of flavor!
- The oil and sugar are replaced with ripe bananas. (Over ripe bananas are very sweet!)
- The flour is replaced with whole grain oats. (Oats are toasted f a few minutes then and ground in a food processor or blender for a nutty taste.)
- Zucchini and spices give the muffins classic zucchini bread flavor. (Add your favorite nuts or chocolate chips to customize the recipe.)
I love being able to enjoy one of my fall favorites with no guilt from the oil and sugar in traditional zucchini bread recipes.
MORE HEALTHY MUFFIN RECIPES TO TRY
1 – Healthy Oatmeal Muffins – My original no flour, no sugar, no oil recipe. This basic recipe is sweetened with bananas and is easy to customize.
2 – Healthy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins – My kids’ all-time favorite healthy oatmeal muffins recipe. Lots of CHOCOLATE flavor.
3 – Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Recipe – Delicious pumpkin spice flavor with no flour, no sugar, no oil and no dairy… they taste like pumpkin pie.
4 – Apple Cinnamon Blender Muffins – This easy recipe mixes in the blender for no mess but lots of cinnamon apple flavor.
Healthy Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Enjoy a fall favorite with no guilt! Healthy Zucchini Muffins contain no oil, no refined sugar, and no flour. The oil and sugar are replaced with ripe bananas and the flour is replaced with whole grain oats. Zucchini, spices, and mini chocolate chips give the muffins classic zucchini bread flavor.
- 2.5 cups old fashioned oats
- 2-3 large bananas 1 cup mashed
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup honey can also be used
- 2.5 cups shredded zucchini peeled or unpeeled
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips, mini optional, plus 1 Tbsp for topping
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place oats on a baking sheet and toast until lightly browned, stirring once (about 4 to 6 minutes). Let cool to room temperature. (If you are in a hurry you can skip this step, however the toasting adds flavor!)
Reserve 1 Tbsp of oats for muffin tops. Place remaining oats in food processor and pulse until they reach a rough, flour like consistency.
Turn oven heat up to 350 degrees.
Mash bananas well, they should have no lumps. (I use my mixer to mash them before adding the other wet ingredients.) Add eggs, maple syrup, zucchini, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
Allow mixture to rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This allows the oats to soften and soak up the liquids. (It should look thicker after resting.)
Optional: Fold in 1/3 c mini chocolate chips or nuts.
Scoop into muffin tin (greased or lined with muffin wrappers). The muffins should be about 7/8 full, recipe makes 14 muffins.
Sprinkle muffin tops with the 1 Tbsp of reserved oats and 1 Tbsp mini chocolate chips (if using), press lightly to make sure they stick.
Bake at 350 for 35 -45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin should come out clean.
Note: These muffins are very moist, if necessary you can cut one open and check to make sure they are baked through. If tops are getting too darkyou can lay a sheet of foil on top to prevent over browning.
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Freeze well?
Yes, they freeze great!
Do your recipes work well with vegan egg substitutes? Ei. Flax meal eggs?
Nicola, I’ve made them with ground flaxseed soaked in water in place of eggs with 1/2 tsp extra baking powder and they tuned out great. Good luck!
This may be a silly question but am I supposed to strain the water out of the zucchinis?
Tried your oatmeal cupcakes and my 2.5 yo son loves them
No, I simply grate the zucchini and add it to the batter. Hope you enjoy!
If I didn’t want to add any more sugar via honey or syrup, would 1/4 cup more vegan milk be ok? A dash of stevia is all I need
Yes, that should work fine. Just make sure to let the batter rest before baking.
Can I substitute steel cut oats for the old fashioned oats?
Sara, sorry I’ve never made them with steel cut oats.
Can I substitute applesauce for the bananas and if so how much would you suggest? Thank you! These look delish 🙂
You can substitute an equal amount of applesauce for the bananas but you might not find the muffins sweet enough. Bananas are sweeter than applesauce.
I just made these tonight and they are amazing! So glad that google lead me to your site! I can’t wait to try some of the other recipes. Thank you!
Thanks, Melissa! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!
Can you double the recipe?
Yes, you can double the recipe.
I have to be the biggest fan of your muffin recipes, I think I have made all of them about a million times and they are great! I also use the recipes for pancakes, just add more liquid to thin the batter and decrease the sweetener so they can still use syrup on top, my kids love them! Thanks so much!
Great idea for pancakes, Cassandra. Thanks for the sweet compliment, it made my day! -Bren
If you are used to eating healthy this may be good for you. I believe I was expecting something more like traditional zucchini bread
Sorry you were disappointed, Tasha!
Heya. How long do these last outside/ in the fridge and in the freezer ?
Nid, I would store them on the counter for 3 or 4 days. They stay fresh in the fridge about 2 weeks (in an air tight container) and a few months in the freezer (wrapped well).
I can’t wait to make these! About how many zucchini did you use to get the 2.5 cups of shredded zucchini?
I used about 2 small zucchini. The number of zucchini needed depends on the size, if you have a monster zucchini it may only take one.
These sound wonderful. Can I use steal cut oats or no? Excited to make these 😄
The recipe works best with old fashioned oats.
I made these today and it is very good. I just threw all the ingredients together in the blender except for the zucchini, I mixed it and the nuts in at the end. Was so quick, easy and delicious. It is super moist, hard to tell when it’s cooked through.
Thanks, Vanitha. They are sure moist, it gets easier to tell if they are done the second time you make the recipe.
Could you use apple sauce instead of the maple syrup?
Yes, though you might not find the muffins sweet enough.
I would like to try it with canned pumpkin instead of bananas. Do you think that would work?
Stephanie, I have a pumpkin version of the muffins you should check out!
Hi I have packaged oat flour, how much do you think it would take?
I would start with 2 cups and the remaining 1/2 cup if the batter seems too thin.