When the garden gives you zucchini, you of course make bake goods! It’s early September here in Maine, and I especially love this time of year because the garden is still going strong, but it’s cool enough to use the oven. Which opens up a world of possibilities and means lots of baking!

This zucchini spice muffin recipe is based on this yummy chocolate zucchini bread recipe. I really wanted a muffin full of fall spices: cinnamon and nutmeg. Plus, something not too sweet, dairy and egg-free (vegan), and gluten-free. It turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected. It took about 5 attempts to get it all right. Egg-free and gluten-free is a tricky combo for bake goods, it’s a challenge to get them to rise. You are solely dependent on the baking powder and baking soda for rising. Without something like cacao powder to mask the flavor of baking soda, you have to go easy on this too. I’ve done all the testing and muffin flops (not muffin tops) so you don’t have too. This zucchini spice muffin recipe makes delicious fluffy flavorful muffins, plus they are gluten free, dairy free, and egg free! Does it get any better?

Healthy Muffins

When I make muffins I try to make something that nourishes my kids as much as possible, without sacrificing taste. These muffins are loaded with fiber from flax, protein from almond and a bean heavy gluten free flour, omega-3 from chia seeds, plus zucchini and banana. Not a bad way to start the day? There is sugar in these, I’ve tried making them with more banana and less sugar, but the texture get’s dense and mushy real fast. If you really want to cut down on sugar, go that route, the flavor is still delicious.

Spice Up Your Life

Cinnamon and nutmeg are not only delicious, but they are hugely beneficial for your health. According to Healthline, cinnamon is loaded with antioxidants, may have anti-inflammatory properties, could protect against heart disease, has blood sugar lowering properties, and may have beneficial effects on neurodegenerative diseases, may prevent bacterial and fungal infections, and it may prevent viral infections. Wow! Nutmeg is also an antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory properties. Nothing like adding a little tree bark to your muffins!

How to Make Zucchini Muffins

To start, preheat the oven to 350°. Then grate the zucchini using a cheese grater. Add the grated zucchini to a mesh colander and place the colander over a bowl to drain. Add the salt to the top of the zucchini to help draw out the liquid. Set aside and mix up the muffin batter.

This is a two-bowl batter recipe. I like to mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl, and all the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix again.

In a large mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients: almond flour, Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar. Whisk together to mix.

Next mix up your wet ingredients in a separate medium size bowl. Add the banana first and mash it up with a fork. Then add the remaining wet ingredients: yogurt, olive oil, flaxseed, chia seed, and apple cider vinegar. Yes flaxseed and chia seed are intentionally listed as wet ingredients; they are your egg replacement and act as the binder in this recipe. They need the wet ingredients to “gel”. Mix all the wet ingredients together using a baking spatula.

Then, pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix everything together with the baking spatula. This is a dry batter. It requires a lot of elbow grease to mix! You can mix this in a stand mixer if you prefer.

Shifting back to the grated zucchini. Use your fist to slowly smash the zucchini to remove as much liquid as possible. Stir up the zucchini a couple of times and repeat the smashing until almost all liquid is removed. Basically when you smash down the zucchini no liquid drops from the colander. That’s when you know your job is done. Next add the grated zucchini to the bowl of muffin batter. Mix together using the baking spatula until incorporated. Try not to over mix the batter, it results in a mushy denser muffin.

Lastly, scoop the muffin batter into a muffin pan. I like to use the tablespoon for scooping. Fill the muffin pan cups full. I know this is contrary to your traditional recipe but believe me it’s ok. This batter has great texture but it doesn’t rise the same as a traditional batter. Fill the cups all the way for best results. Speaking of muffin pans I love this silicone muffin pan, no greasing required. Plus no toxic nonstick coatings or aluminum.

Pop the muffins in the oven for 35 minutes until lightly golden brown on top. Once baked, let them rest for about 10 minutes before enjoying. Yum, let’s get baking!

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