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The Best Whole Grain Zucchini Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar (can use 1/2 cup for a less sweet muffin)
  • 2 large eggs
  • ⅓ cup canola, avocado, vegetable or melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups (178 g) white whole wheat flour (can sub all-purpose)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (about 283 g) finely shredded zucchini lightly squeezed of excess water, measured after wringing (see note)
  • ½ cup (85 g) milk chocolate, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, (plus more for tops of muffins, if desired), optional
  • Raw or coarse sugar for sprinkling on top, optional

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla until well-combined.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula 3-4 times until the batter starts to come together but there are still streaks of flour throughout.
  • Stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips, if using, until the batter is just combined. Don't overmix! It's ok if the batter is still slightly lumpy.
  • Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tin. Add a few chocolate chips to the top of each muffin for a prettier chocolate chip appearance (totally optional). If making the batter without chocolate chips, sprinkle a bit of raw or coarse sugar over the top of the muffins (again, optional, but super delicious).
  • Bake for 17-22 minutes until the tops spring back lightly to the touch.
  • Let cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. These taste best once cooled, in my opinion (and are delicious the next day, as well).

Notes

Zucchini: you don't need to go crazy wringing the water out of the zucchini here. I simply shred the zucchini finely and then take handfuls and give the zucchini a good squeeze over the kitchen sink (with no extra tools like a kitchen towel, etc). A good, healthy squeeze will do just fine. No need to squeeze the guts out of the zucchini for this recipe. I've given a weight and general cup measure for the zucchini once it is lightly squeezed. 
Variation: want another delicious variation? Sub in 1 cup finely shredded apple (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp are tasty here) for 1 cup of the zucchini (no need to squeeze water out of the apple). So yummy!