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These zucchini muffins are soft, sweet, lightly spiced, and topped with crackly raw sugar that makes them feel a little fancy. You’re going to love how easily they come together—just stir everything in a bowl, with no squeezing the zucchini dry. Brown sugar and cinnamon make them an easy weekday snack.
Why You’ll Love It
- Wonderfully moist — shredded zucchini and vegetable oil keep them soft, even the next day.
- No squeezing required — just grate the zucchini and toss it in.
- Warm, cozy flavor — cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger add gentle spice without overdoing it.
- Small batch — makes about 10 muffins, maybe 12 if the cups aren’t filled quite as generously.
- Crunchy sugar top — raw or turbinado sugar adds the part everybody notices first.
Ingredient Notes
Regular all-purpose flour is all you need here. No special flour blends, no fussing around. I use light brown sugar because that’s usually what’s in my pantry, but dark brown sugar will give the muffins a slightly deeper molasses flavor if that’s what you have.
You need both brown sugar and white sugar. The brown sugar gives them that soft, almost caramel-like warmth, while the granulated sugar keeps the sweetness clean and simple. This is not health food, despite the zucchini. Let’s be adults about it.
For the spices, cinnamon does most of the work, with nutmeg and ginger quietly hanging around in the background. Don’t skip the ginger just because it’s only a quarter teaspoon. I did once, and the muffins were still good—but sort of flat, like a rerun of a show you used to love and now can’t understand why.
Vegetable oil keeps these tender. I’ve used whatever plain vegetable oil was on hand, and that’s what I recommend. The zucchini should be shredded finely enough that it melts right into the batter. I usually peel mine because I prefer the softer look inside the muffin, though you certainly don’t have to if the zucchini is well washed. The peel is tender and nobody’s going to write a letter about it.
And please, do not squeeze out the zucchini. I know every instinct tells you to drain vegetables before baking. Not here. That moisture belongs in the muffin.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed loosely—I don’t stand there pressing it down like I’m building a retaining wall
- 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 cups shredded zucchini, peeled if you like, and do not squeeze out the liquid
- 1/4 cup raw or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling over the tops
Optional, if the mood strikes: mini chocolate chips, dried cranberries, raisins, or chopped walnuts. You can stir in about 1 cup, or scatter a little over the tops before baking.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners. This recipe makes about 10 muffins, though I’ve gotten 12 before when I was being unusually restrained with the batter. I don’t know who that woman was.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Break up any stubborn brown sugar lumps with your fingers or the back of a spoon. I always find at least one lump that has apparently been waiting for a long time.
Make a little well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla, and egg. Stir it together until you have a thick, somewhat shaggy batter. It will not look smooth and polished at this stage. Don’t panic and start adding milk. There is no milk in this recipe. The zucchini is coming, and it brings plenty of moisture to the party.
Fold in the shredded zucchini. Again: leave the zucchini wet. All that natural moisture is what turns this fairly stiff-looking batter into soft muffins. Stir just until the zucchini is evenly mixed in. Try not to overdo it; muffins can get tough when they’re stirred to death, and I have made that mistake while answering a phone call and arguing with a cordless vacuum. Not one of my better afternoons.
Divide the batter among the lined muffin cups, filling them about three-quarters full. Sprinkle the tops with the raw or turbinado sugar. If you’re using chocolate chips, cranberries, raisins, or walnuts, you can fold them into the batter before filling the cups, or sprinkle some on top. I’m partial to mini chocolate chips when I’m making these for company, though plain is My Favorite. Actually, no—chocolate is my favorite. Plain is just what I make when I can’t find the chocolate chips.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs. If the toothpick has wet batter on it, give them another couple of minutes. Oven temperatures are unreliable little liars, especially mine, which has been “running a bit hot” for a while.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then move them to a rack if you have one. If you don’t, a clean cutting board is fine. They’re especially good warm, when the sugar top still has that delicate crunch and the kitchen smells like cinnamon and something pleasant is happening in the world for once.
Variations
Mini chocolate chips are especially good stirred into these, with a few scattered on top where they get a little melty and dramatic. The zucchini peel can stay on for green flecks, though I still peel mine half the time because old habits have deep roots, like the volunteer tomato plants that show up every year beside the patio.
Dried cranberries are lovely in these, especially if you want something a little tangy against the brown sugar. Raisins work too, though raisins tend to divide a family faster than discussions about thermostat settings. Chopped walnuts add a nice crunch, but I would keep them modest so they don’t bulldoze the soft texture.
I once tried adding a big handful of shredded carrot along with the zucchini, thinking I was very clever. The muffins weren’t bad, exactly, but they became more like a confused little carrot cake without frosting.
Storage & Reheating
Keep the cooled muffins in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. I usually put a paper towel in the bottom of the container because zucchini muffins are moist—wonderfully moist, but still—and the towel helps keep the tops from getting sticky.
They’ll keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days, though the raw sugar topping loses some of its crunch. A quick 10 seconds in the microwave brings back that soft, just-baked feeling. Maybe 12 seconds if your microwave is ancient like mine. Do not walk away and forget them, though.
For freezing, let the muffins cool completely, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, then tuck them into a freezer zip-top bag. They’ll keep for up to 3 months. When you want one, remove the plastic wrap and microwave in 30-second intervals until warm. I like having a few in the freezer for those afternoons when coffee sounds necessary but a full meal sounds like a personal insult.
Final Notes
There’s something about zucchini baked into a sweet little muffin that makes a kitchen feel occupied in the best way. Not busy exactly—just lived in. The grater in the sink, a few green shreds on the counter, somebody wandering in asking what smells good before the muffins have even had time to cool.
The last time I made these, rain was tapping against the windows and one of those home renovation shows was playing in the background. They were tearing out a perfectly fine kitchen, naturally. Meanwhile, I was standing in mine with flour on my shirt and a zucchini the size of a baseball bat, thinking this was plenty. More than plenty, really.
Make them plain, add chocolate, tuck one into a lunch bag, eat one warm over the sink. That last one is not a serving suggestion exactly, but I’m not here to judge.
Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed loosely
- 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 cups shredded zucchini peeled if you like; do not squeeze out the liquid
- 1/4 cup raw or turbinado sugar for sprinkling over the tops
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt, breaking up any brown sugar lumps with your fingers or the back of a spoon.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then add the vegetable oil, vanilla, and egg and stir until a thick, somewhat shaggy batter forms.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini without squeezing out the liquid, stirring just until the zucchini is evenly mixed into the batter.
- Divide the batter among the lined muffin cups, filling them about three-quarters full.
- Sprinkle the tops with the raw or turbinado sugar before baking.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs; if the toothpick has wet batter on it, bake for another couple of minutes.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then move them to a rack or clean cutting board; they are especially good warm while the sugar topping is still crisp.