These moist and fluffy vegan zucchini muffins made with vegan butter and are the perfect picnic pleaser or ‘on the go’ delicious delight. No egg, dairy free, ready in 30 minutes, super easy to make! You’ll love them!
Buttery moist and fluffy, these vegan zucchini muffins are our new favourite muffins. We were going for a short hike the other day and I wanted something easy to take along and eat. I wanted something a little different.
The fresh zucchini in the fridge gave me the answer. Vegan zucchini muffins! I simply grated them and mixed them into muffin batter. Job pretty much done!
With a subtle flavour, the moisture created by zucchinis is perfect for muffins. Moist, soft and super fluffy - perfect!
For extra flavour and colour, I added fresh carrot – a great combination that makes the muffin a bit more substantial
They’ve quickly become his and my favourite vegan vegetable muffins. When I’m out for the day, I regularly put one in my lunch box, with a bit of fruit, and it’s a great on the go lunch. A nice touch is to add a bit of vegan butter - it works really well together
Once you’ve made these muffins a few times they’re easy to adapt and add extras to. Read on!
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Muffins
Quick and easy to make, vegan zucchini muffins are one of my favourite vegetable muffins. Here are some of my top tips.
How to make muffins fluffy
It’s easier than you think to make a muffin recipe without eggs fluffy.
1. Mix the butter with the hand mixer
When butter and sugar are mixed with a hand mixer, air is captured more easily in the butter. Mixing with the hand mixer on high speed for 2 minutes will allow air to be introduced into the butter. This is the way to make these eggless zucchini muffins extra fluffy!
2. Use the right baking powder and baking soda
It’s important to store your baking powder and baking soda properly (separately) in an airtight container.
Make sure they’re not too old, otherwise they don’t rise well and they become too dense. I made that mistake before, so trust me, it’s worth the extra effort
3. Make butter milk
Mixing in a good buttermilk with the butter will help lighten the butter and make the muffin fluffy. Add apple cider vinegar to soy milk. Combine them with a whisk and leave them at least for 5 minutes. Your buttermilk is ready! Vegan buttermilk made in a flash
You can replace the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice or white vinegar. I've found soy milk works the best among other plant based milk for the buttermilk.
How to make the muffins moist
Let’s face it, nobody likes dry muffins. This usually stems from the muffins being over-mixed. I’ve made the mistake of trying to reduce the baking time when this has happened in the past. But that can result in the inside not being cooked properly and being too moist or even wet.
So here’s a few tips for making moist muffins that are properly cooked.
1. Do not over-mix the batter
When the flour is over-mixed, gluten is produced. When there’s too much gluten, the muffins become tough and dense. To avoid this, use a spatula and gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet.
Scoop the dry part of the batter from the bottom to the top, gently folding, and repeat this until the mixture becomes smooth on surface. A few flour spots are just fine.
2. Use butter and vegetable oil
I like muffins to have a buttery flavour. But butter can dry the muffins out. So I use a mix of butter and canola oil.
3. Heat up the oven and then reduce the heat
Preheat the oven with the higher temperature and bake for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, reduce the heat and keep baking to cook the inside. This way, the muffins get crispy outside and moist inside.
Also, avoid baking for longer than 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven. Once the heat is reduced, transfer the muffins into a cooling rack.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Tips for the Best Vegan Zucchini Muffins
How long can you store the muffins?
These zucchini muffins can last in the airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature and in the fridge for 5 days. They are best served within a day.
Can you freeze the muffins?
Yes, you can! As soon as the muffins have cooled down, you can freeze them. Transfer them into a freezer-friendly container and keep them for 1 month. You lock in the freshness by freezing them right away. Defrost them at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Grating the zucchini
Grating zucchini and carrot well takes some time. I use a box grater. But you can also use a food processor.
Other Zucchini Vegan Muffin options
These zucchini muffins can be easily adapted to healthy and gluten free versions!
zucchini muffins (gluten free)
Gluten free flour can replace 1:1 portion to all purpose flour in this recipe. Since gluten free flour contains rice flour, corn starch or tapioca flour, the muffins tend to be little dried. I recommend experimenting by adding a little more oil or some yogurt to the batter.
Vegan zucchini muffins with chocolate
Add 1 tbsp chocolate chips. Believe me, chocolate and zucchini works well together! Walnuts and peanuts also work with chocolate and zucchini. I think walnuts work super well with these muffins. If you do not fancy nuts, try dried fruits, such as raisins.
Vegan zucchini muffins with apple sauce
Replace vegan flux egg with 3 tbsp of apple sauce. Zucchini already contains enough moisture. If too much apple sauce is added, the muffins will be too moist. Experiment a little with this.
Healthy zucchini muffins
Fresh zucchini and rolled oats with eggless and non dairy muffins. You can either add flax egg or apple sauce. Some all purpose flour can be replaced with whole wheat flour. Cane sugar can be replaced with real maple syrup, so that the muffins are naturally sweetened. (reference)
MIKLIA Collection for Vegan Muffins
Vegan Apple Muffins
Vegan Strawberry Muffins
Vegan Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour (219g or gluten free flour)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted vegan butter (60g)
- ½ cup raw cane sugar (100g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (beet sugar)
- 3 tbsp canola oil (45ml)
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseeds and 1½ tbsp water)
- 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup soy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Vegetables
- 1⅓ cup zucchini
- ⅓ cup carrot
Instructions
Preparation
- Place the paper liners on the muffin tin. Or grease/spray oil on the tin.
- Combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar and whisk. This is your butter milk. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425 degree F (218°C).
- Grate zucchini and carrot with a grater box.
Dry Ingredients
- Combine all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt with a whisk in the large bowl. Shift them. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on high speed until they become smooth and creamy for 2 minutes.
- Collect the ingredients by scraping down the sides and scoop up from the bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add the flax egg and pure vanilla extract. Beat the ingredients at medium speed until it's well combined and smooth for 1 minute.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.Add the buttermilk into the dry flour and add grated zucchini and carrot. Start folding the ingredients with a spatula. Do not knead but scoop up with the spatula from the bottom to the top. Keep folding the ingredients until the batter becomes even. If there’s a little bit of dry flour left, that’s fine –it’s more important not to over mix it.
Baking
- Spoon the batter into each muffin cup and fill into the top.
- Bake at 425 degree F (218°C) for 5 minutes. Do not open the oven at this stage, but reduce the heat to 350 degree F (177°C). Keep baking the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center and if it comes clean, the muffins are baked. In total, the baking time takes for 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven and dry out the muffins in the cooling rack. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
- Transfer the flour into a container or a bag.
- Then spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Gently pile it until it forms a heap above the rim. Do not scoop up the flour directly into the measuring cup.
- Then scrape a knife across the top of the cup to level the flour.
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