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These Zucchini Muffins come straight from my mom’s kitchen! They’re ultra moist, packed with brown sugar-cinnamon flavor, and are super easy to make!
Easy Zucchini Muffin Recipe
Zucchini bread is fantastic, but it’s not as easy to store, freeze, and travel with as zucchini muffins — so we’ve ditched the loaf pan and gone for individual muffins instead!
These zucchini muffins are such a cinch to make that even the worst baker — and we’ve heard some of the stories out there, so we totally get that there are some of you who don’t feel as confident with the oven as others — can make these turn out light, fluffy and oh so moist.
By the way, in case you heard one of our instagram stories about how much you totally need a jumbo muffin tin that is a light color and will evenly cook, this is the one I was talking about by Wilton.
These really are the fluffiest, most flavorful zucchini muffins with a hint of cinnamon and sour cream to add that melt in your mouth, pillowy texture you know and love. Just dip the tops in butter or coconut oil and then in a brown sugar mixture and you’re done.
Zucchini Muffins Ingredients
There are no surprise ingredients in these zucchini bread muffins. Here’s what you’ll need to make them at home:
- Shredded zucchini
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Sour cream
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Canola oil
- Coconut oil (or butter)
How to Make Zucchini Muffins
These easy zucchini muffins come together in no time! Here are the basic steps to making zucchini bread muffins:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet ingredients.
- Gently fold the batter together until combined.
- Pour into 12 muffin cups and bake until done.
- Let the zucchini muffins cool slightly before eating.
How to Store Zucchini Muffins
Properly stored, freshly baked muffins will last for about 1 to 2 days at room temperature. Just be sure to store these homemade muffins in an airtight container.
Why Do Muffins Get Sticky?
Muffins come together handily for a satisfying snack, but their texture can change undesirably when you store them. Naturally moist muffins tend to get sticky and soggy in lidded containers and zip-top bags that prevent air circulation. To keep them fresh but not mushy, you must manage the moisture when you store them.
Cool the muffins in the baking tin for several minutes. Remove them from the cups and cool them completely, for about an hour, on a wire rack. Put a paper towel in the bottom of a large airtight container. Place the muffins in a single layer in the container, and top the layer of muffins with another paper towel before putting the lid on the container.
Eat them within a few days.
How to Freeze Zucchini Muffins
Don’t forget, if you want to freeze zucchini muffins just make sure you hold off on the brown sugar topping until you’ve reheated everything. This will help the muffins taste fresh again.
To freeze the zucchini muffins, just pop your completely cooled muffins into a Ziploc bag and you’re good to go! Muffins can be frozen for up to 2-3 months.
Tips for the Best Zucchini Muffins
In most zucchini muffin recipes, the zucchini is usually wrung out in a towel to release the excess liquid, but that’s totally not something you need to do with this recipe. It’s the perfect amount of dry versus wet ingredients.
If you use the fine side of a grater to shred the zucchini, you’ll force more liquid to be squeezed out, which will stay on the plate when you pick up the shreds and drop them into the batter. The fine shreds will also incorporate easier into the batter versus having big strings of veggies, which in my experience the kids don’t love.
We love this Cuisinart box grater as it’s the only one to hold up in our family.
More Easy Muffin Recipes:
- Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Nutella Banana Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Crumb Muffins
- Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
- Banana Crumb Muffins
- Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Nutella-Stuffed Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
- Blackberry Muffins
- Apple Crumb Muffins
- ALL OF OUR MUFFIN RECIPES!
Mom’s BEST Zucchini Muffins
Mom's Best Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
Zucchini muffins:
- 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ Cup Sour Cream
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 Cup Canola Oil, + 2 Tablespoons
- 1 Large Zucchini, finely shredded (about 2 cups)
Topping:
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted (or butter)
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar, 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder, 1/2 teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- Whisk in the brown sugar.½ Cup Brown Sugar
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla and oil until just combined.¼ Cup Sour Cream, 2 Large Eggs, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
- Stir in the zucchini.1 Large Zucchini
- Using a rubber spatula, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Use a folding motion, scooping under the batter from one side of the bowl to the other and turning over your wrist to fold the ingredients onto each other. Continue until all ingredients are incorporated but do not over-mix.
- Add the batter to a greased cupcake pan or one filled with paper liners.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Allow the muffins to cool for a minute and then remove from the pan and dip the tops in the oil and then straight into the brown sugar.2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- Cool on a wire rack or eat warm, because you just made muffins and you deserve it.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is one of the best recipes ever for zucchini muffins. Very moist and flavorful!! I liked making the muffins rather than a bread in the hot weather the time in for muffins is better than an hour for a quick bread.
That is one thing I love about muffins! So glad you love this recipe!
I loved this recipes but substituted sweet almond oil for canola oil and added the zest of one lemon. This was the best zucchini recipe I’ve tried; it cooked through but was extremely moist and no butter required. I did hand press out as much water as possible first before adding zucchini, it yielded about one cup of water from the two cups of zucchini.
Thank you for the feedback Angela! I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
Hi ! I made this recipe tonight and the muffins come out really well of the oven. They didn’t smell like heaven but they smell good. They are a little bit too sweet for me but the amount of sugar maybe hides the zucchini flavor: we don’t have any vegetable taste. It’s a delicate flavor of zucchini (what is really interesting for kids who don’t like to eat greens). And… the texture ! It’s moist as hell !! I had olive oil and it tastes really yummy in the zucchini muffin. I enjoyed this super easy recipe which was too sweet anyway. Does it work if we substitute sour cream by non-dairy product ? Thanks for answering, love your pictures !! 😉
Hi Emilie! The sour cream is part of what makes them so moist. You could try reducing the sugar to 1/2 c if you felt they were too sweet.
I will try next time ! Thank you for your answer 🙂 they were too sweet for me but for an entire group of construction workers, they were really good. So the problem is only with my (less)sweet tooth !
Hahaha…everyone tastes sweetness and saltiness differently. So glad that everyone else enjoyed them!
Love Love.
Replaced the sour cream with no sugar added apple sauce to cut down on fat. We also leave off the topping to cut down on the sugar since we give these to my 3 year old. SHH don’t tell him there are veggies in his “special muffins” 😉
I usually make 2 batches, to freeze 1/2 for quick access later 🙂
Also make one of the batch with smaller muffins for perfect serving size my toddler. just cut the back time down to 10-15min to avoid burning.
PS. If you put them in the fridge you can get them to last the entire week rather than going bad in a few days 🙂
Thanks Jodi Lynn! Great tips! So glad these are a hit in your house!
Thank you for this recipe. I strained my zucchini through a mesh bag furst and added one individual serving cup of applesauce, and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. These are PERFECT at 24 minutes in my oven. Happy baking ❤
Oh that sounds so yummy! I love your changes! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
So when do you add the crumb topping of Brown sugar and butter? I guess after they bake?
Hi Ashley, you dip them into the melted butter and then sugar after baking. It’s the final steps in the recipe. 🙂 xoxo
Can you use gluten-free all purpose flour with this recipe?
Hi Lisa! I’ve never tried it, but I don’t see why not!
I have an abundance of zucchini in my garden that’s looking to get used. I’m glad I can freeze these too!
Yes! Enjoy!
You can also shred and freeze your zucchini, just strain well after thawing, and make them whenever you want 😉
Oh my gosh these are so good! I added a small amount of walnuts, next time probably adding more. I did not squeeze any water from the zucchini and they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! Thank you so much Lisa! So glad you enjoyed them!
At what point do you add the zucchini? Or do you mix it in together with the wet ingredients?
When do you add the zucchini? and do you squeeze it dry before adding?
Thanks,
Hi Cheryl,
You stir in the zucchini after mixing the wet ingredients and then all of that gets folded into the dry. 🙂
I love this recipe for muffins! Can you use this recipe if you want to do a loaf? If so, how would you tweak time and temp?
Absolutely! Temp will stay the same but it will need about 50-60 minutes to bake. Enjoy!
I think the step by step directions for this recipe is missing :-/
Sorry about that, I was in editing, but you should see it now. 🙂