These Zucchini Blueberry Muffins are the perfect healthy alternative to coffee shop muffins! They’re made with unsweetened applesauce, grated zucchini and fresh juicy blueberries for the perfect healthy snack!
My readers absolutely LOVE these Best Ever Banana Muffins! Try them yourself to see why!!
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*I first posted this recipe in March 2015. I’m sharing it with you again today with fresh new photos and some of my tried and true tips for the perfect healthy muffin!
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One of the first things I ever learned to bake was muffins. They’re easy to throw together and they’re generally a healthier choice, but for some reason I’ve always found it hard to find muffin recipes that taste great and also aren’t just cupcakes minus the giant mountain of frosting on top.
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This recipe is really, really stellar. I’ve adapted this recipe from Alaska From Scratch’s Blueberry Zucchini Muffins. You can find her original recipe here, but I’ve lightened it up significantly and cut out most of the sugar it calls for. Mine are made with applesauce, grated zucchini and fresh juicy blueberries – these muffins are unbelievably yummy and a much healthier choice than traditional muffins! You’re going to love them!
I mean, look at all that blueberry goodness!!
If you can keep yourself from eating the whole batch in one day, they store nicely in an airtight container on the counter for a few days.
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I hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite go-to muffin recipe?
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Looking for even more AMAZING muffin recipes?? Try these Raspberry Lemonade Muffins!! You’ll love these Lemon Pistachio Muffins!! My readers absolutely LOVE these Best Ever Banana Muffins! Try them yourself to see why!!
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RECIPE VIDEO
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this easy muffin recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel.If you made this, share a photo!
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Zucchini Blueberry Muffins
These Zucchini Blueberry Muffins are made with unsweetened applesauce, grated zucchini and fresh juicy blueberries for the perfect healthy snack!
Recipe: Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Recipe: Instructions
- Wash the blueberries under some cool water. I've tried this recipe with frozen berries and it works in a pinch, but the result is always so much better with fresh blueberries.
- Lay them to dry on some kitchen paper or a clean kitchen towel, and try to resist eating them all by the handful.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 muffin tins with 18 paper muffin cups.
- In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, applesauce, oil, and vanilla using a wire whisk.
- Add the zucchini and lemon zest, and switch to a wooden spoon or spatula to incorporate them into the mixture (the strands of zucchini get caught on the wire whisk and don't get incorporated properly). I don't ever peel my zucchini; I love the look of the dark green flecks in the muffins, and the skin contains a lot of healthy fibre, potassium, vitamin B-6, vitamin K, and antioxidants!
- Using a sieve or flour sifter, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
- Once the dry ingredients have been sifted to prevent lumps, add the blueberries to the dry ingredients.
- This may seem strange, but adding the blueberries to the dry ingredients helps to keep the colour from the berries from seeping into the light coloured muffin batter. The flour mixture coats the berries and absorbs any berry juice that's sitting on the berries that might discolour the batter. This is an important step because it prevents your batter from turning purple!
- Adding the blueberries to the dry ingredients also prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins during baking, so this really is a crucial step!
- At this point, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula only until they're just incorporated. Spoon the batter into the 18 muffin cups, distributing it as evenly as possible.
- Grab another smaller bowl and add to it the 1/4 cup sugar, the 1/4 cup flour, the 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 3 tbsp cold butter.
- Roughly mix these ingredients together with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture becomes crumbly. Spoon a little bit of this mixture over each of the cups full of muffin batter. It's okay if you can see some small chunks of butter.
- Bake these muffins at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 23-25 minutes. You'll know they're done when a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean.
Recipe: Notes
These muffins are best the day they're made because the crumb topping can go soggy if they're left in a completely airtight container for too long.
Recipe: Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Zucchini Blueberry Muffins
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 202
Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 32mg11%
Sodium 45mg2%
Potassium 111mg3%
Carbohydrates 32g11%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 13g14%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 137IU3%
Vitamin C 5mg6%
Calcium 22mg2%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
l just posted a photo, but cat see it here. wheredid it go?
anyway, l like the recipe.
We can’t see it either but we’re glad to hear that you like our recipe! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.
Great recipe!! I substituted Pamela’s GF flour and used coconut oil/butter mixed for the oil and lemon extract since I didn’t have lemon zest. They came out quite glat but, these were GREAT!! Thank you. Definitely making these again and aagain!! Again!!
We’re so happy you enjoyed them! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!
I had extra blueberries and zucchini so I gave these a try today! These muffins are so dang good! The only thing I did different is I made my own topping to put on them instead of what the recipe called for. Super delicious!
We’re so happy you enjoyed them! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!
Great way to use 2cups of zucchini. I did squeeze mine out a bit because of past experiences that breads are too wet/ dense. Delicious! Love the zing of lemon zest! Because of it having less oil they do stick a bit to muffin papers but if you have silicone ones they would come out fine.
Thanks for your feedback Tina!!
Super dense, did not turn out good had to throw them all away!
Is it possible that you maybe didn’t add the correct amount of baking powder or baking soda? Or maybe you used frozen and undrained zucchini and/or blueberries? These things can lead to dense muffins. Also, over-mixing can be a cause. Hope this helps! Happy baking ☺️
Can you freeze these muffins then reheat in microwave?
I’d recommend freezing and then thawing at room temperature, uncovered.
Any ideas for a substitute for the zucchini? My zukes didn’t come with my grocery order. I was thinking of either using squash, beets or spinach.
I made them with carrots and spinach instead of zucchini and they’re pretty good! Not as good as the zucchini ones but not bad.
Thank you for the feedback Gwyn!!
Hello Gwyn! I wouldn’t recommend any of those because they will change the composition completely. However, you could try this recipe that my family loves just as much. https://thebusybaker.ca/best-ever-blueberry-muffins/
The recipe says to use 2 muffin tins for 18 muffins, so obviously I need both a 12 piece tin and a 6 piece tin. If I don’t have a 6 piece tin, can I use the extra batter to make a small loaf?
Yes, or you can just use another 12-piece tin and only fill 6 of the cups.
Wanted to love these but….cut recipe in half and made 6 large muffins. They looked nice when removed from pan but they were heavy and very dense. I did not over mix, not sure why this happened?
I found the same thing, very heavy and doughy. Not sure if the baking powder and soda measurements are right and missing salt.
These are fairly dense muffins, thanks to the zucchini and the applesauce. 🙂
These blueberry zucchini muffins are the best ever! They turn out perfect every time I make them which is a lot.Always a hit!
So glad you like the recipe!! 🙂
Do you squeeze the moisture from the zucchini for this recipe if you are using fresh zucchini or just use freshly grated zucchini as is?
I squeeze the moisture only from grated zucchini that I’ve defrosted from frozen. If I’m using fresh, I use it as it is 🙂
These are good but they really stuck the muffin liners which was disappointing
Any substitute for the lemon zest? Juice perhaps? Also would the liquid need to be adjusted if I used thawed frozen zucchini?
Lemon zest is what gives the best lemon flavour, and lemon juice would add too much acid to the recipe. I’d suggest draining the thawed zucchini as best you can before adding to the recipe. I use frozen (thawed) zucchini in this recipe all the time!
I made these without the crumble topping because I wanted to freeze them. I also, found out my applesauce was moldy, so I swapped equal amount of mashed bananas! These muffins are SO GOOD!!!!
So glad you liked them!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!!
Do you peel the zucchini before grating? Cant wait to try these!
I never do, but you can. The peel contains nutrients and fibre, and it’s pretty 🙂