Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Texture/Taste: Light, moist, and perfectly sweet. Spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Ease: So easy! Great beginners paleo recipe.
Top Tips: Once you add the coconut flour, let the batter sit for 5 minutes before proceeding with the recipe so the coconut flour has time to hydrate.
Recommended GF Flour: This paleo recipe uses coconut flour and almond flour. It is gluten-free and grain-free.
Would I make these again? Definitely! These muffins are delicious for breakfast, as a snack for kids or a healthy treat anytime.
xoxo erin
If you’re looking for an easy grain-free zucchini muffin, look no further! These muffins are nutritious and delicious. Shredded zucchini adds a sneaky vegetable while banana, honey, and warm cinnamon add sweetness and flavor.
These muffins are a great introductory recipe if you are new to gluten-free, grain-free baking!
Featured Comment
From Laura: “I LOVE these muffins! I have been making these for months now and am so grateful for this recipe! Finally a healthy muffin I feel great about feeding my kids. I always have these on hand in the freezer! I make a batch, toss them in there and just reheat for 1 minute in the microwave at breakfast time! Thank you for this awesome recipe!“
Table of Contents
- Erin’s Recipe Rundown
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make Paleo Zucchini Muffins
- Make-Ahead/Storage/Freezing Instructions
- Can these zucchini muffins be made dairy-free?
- Do I need to dry off the zucchini before adding it to the mixture?
- Can I replace the honey with another sweetener?
- What can I use in place of the banana?
- More Recipes To Try
- Paleo Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients. Jump to the recipe below for the exact measurements.
- Zucchini: About 2 small zucchinis will give you the full cup of shredded zucchini for 10 muffins. Not only does it add nutrients, the zucchini also keeps the muffins moist!
- Banana: Using just one mashed banana adds moisture and sweetness to the muffins without going overboard on banana flavor.
- Coconut Flour: Coconut flour has very different properties than any other flour, so don’t substitute it with more almond flour. This recipe might seem like it has a lot of eggs, but the coconut flour needs more liquid to hydrate properly.
- Almond Flour: A little almond flour helps with the texture and works well with the coconut flour to create a grain-free blend.
- Honey: Paleo recipes usually avoid granulated sugar. I like to use honey as a natural sweetener, along with the banana, to add subtle sweetness to these muffins. You can also use maple syrup.
How to Make Paleo Zucchini Muffins
Here’s an overview of how to make these muffins. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
- Combine dry ingredients: Mix together the the coconut flour, almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
- Blend: Use a food processor to pulse together the eggs, honey, vanilla, and coconut oil.
- Pulse together dry and wet: Add the dry mixture into the food processor and pulse the batter together.
- Rest the batter: Let it sit for 3-5 minutes so the coconut flour absorbs the liquids.
- Add the final ingredients: Pulse to mix the apple cider vinegar, banana, and zucchini into mixture.
- Scoop: Add the batter into the lined muffin pan.
- Bake: The muffins bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean.
- Cool and enjoy!
Make-Ahead/Storage/Freezing Instructions
To Make-Ahead: You can prepare the muffin batter a day in advance and bake the following morning.
To Store: Refrigerate leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
To Freeze: These muffins can also be frozen by wrapping each muffin individually in plastic wrap then storing in a resealable bag. Frozen muffins can be stored for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: Remove the plastic from the frozen muffin and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, until thawed.
Can these zucchini muffins be made dairy-free?
Good news! These muffins are naturally dairy-free as paleo recipes do not include dairy products. No changes need to be made to enjoy delicious dairy-free muffins!
Do I need to dry off the zucchini before adding it to the mixture?
I usually just give mine a slight squeeze to get some of the moisture out and avoid unwanted sogginess. It doesn’t need to be really dry though.
Can I replace the honey with another sweetener?
Maple syrup works well as a replacement for honey in this recipe. Plus it is another natural sweetener!
What can I use in place of the banana?
You can use 1/2 cup of applesauce or pumpkin instead of the mashed banana.
More Recipes To Try
Paleo Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (56g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (25g) almond flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Other Ingredients:
- 4 large large eggs
- 1/3 cup (79ml) honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 banana mashed
- 1 cup unpeeled finely shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Fill a standard muffin pan with liners.
- Combine the coconut flour, almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the eggs, honey, vanilla, and coconut oil until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and pulse to combine.
- Allow the mixture to sit for 3-5 minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the liquids.
- Add the apple cider vinegar, banana, and zucchini and pulse to combine.
- Scoop the batter into the lined muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean.
- Cool and enjoy! Keep leftover muffins in the refrigerator.
I like the texture of these muffins. I find the biggest challenge of baking with coconut flour is finding the right ratio between the wet and the dry. These muffins are not too dry nor too soggy. However I made a minor adjustment in one of the steps. I didn’t let the batter sit for 3-5 minutes before adding the zucchini and the banana cause the recipes called for baking soda which is good cause we are dealing with acidic wet ingredients such as vinegar and honey. But baking soda is very time sensitive. The chemical reaction called carbon dioxide becomes active as soon as the battery is moistened. The bubbling reaction that causes the batter to rise only expands in hot temperature. So you want to put your batter in a preheated oven as soon as possible once the carbon dioxide is activated otherwise the batter will fall flat. I also added 1/2 tsp of psyllium husk powder with the dry and a tbsp of orange juice for extra moisture along with the wet ingredients. But I would definitely make these muffins again.
I have made these twice now – so good! They are my favorite out of a few paleo zucchini muffins I have tried. I subbed applesauce for the banana b/c my bananas weren’t too ripe, still came out great. Made half of the batch with some mini choc chips – yum!
Thanks for the recipe.
These are great – thank you! I just made a triple batch.
AMAZING!!! I made these for a crossfit competition – for my team to snack on between WODS and everyone loved them! So moist, so flavourful, so delicious!
Thanks for the great recipe!
I have 2 beautiful zucchini from my CSA ready to go and can’t wait to make this recipe! Thanks for posting and inspiring others to good paleo nutrition and health!
Thanks Deb! I hope you like the muffins!
These look really good!! I’m excited to try! Do you know if applesauce would work in place of banana?? I’m allergic to banana.
Thanks!
Hi Amy! You could try 1/2 cup of applesauce. I haven’t tried it but I suspect it would work 🙂 I hope this helps!
I made these muffins yesterday and they are absolutely delicious. They are moist and light. I highly recommend making them.
I’m glad they turned out for you!!
Best muffins I have ever made. My hubby loved them to!!
Awesome!
Question, have you tried using flax or chia eggs with these? I’m trying to cook with less eggs to lessen inflammation, but some recipes don’t fair well to the flax/chia egg. Wondering if you’ve tried it or not.
I haven’t tried it! I would be very curious to know it it works though. Egg-free, paleo baking can be tricky! But I know a lot of people need to avoid eggs. Let me know if you try it 🙂
I'm so happy you like them! My 2 year old loves them too 🙂
Made these today… they are amazing!! And bonus, they are a perfect snack for my 1 year old! 🙂
oh my heavens these look delicious. and I was going to make whole wheat ones this weekend! Just ordered almond and coconut flour off amazon. Super excited! These seriously look delicious and the pictures are amazing!
Yum! I also need muffins in my life and always have a secret stash in the freezer if the cravings arrive. I love that you have sneaked veggies into these muffins, means they are super healthy right? 😉
These look really good! But I live in Norway and am unable to find coconut flour, is there a substitute I can use?
I just threw some shredded coconut in my Vitamix to make my own coconut flour. I did the same thing with some raw almonds. This saved a lot of money. I took them to a breakfast meeting and they were a big hit.
So glad they works for you!
This is a keeper! They are so moist and packed with flavours.
This are awesome. Very moist. I added soaked raisins.