These chocolate chip vegan zucchini muffins are perfectly moist and delicious with just the right amount of sweetness. These healthy zucchini-packed muffins make a great grab-and-go breakfast, yet are yummy enough to be served for dessert!
My kids think that they hate zucchini, but when I chop it up in these zucchini muffins, vegan zucchini bread, healthy vegan muffins, veggie brownies, or even vegan bolognese sauce, they gobble it up and ask for more.
These healthy zucchini muffins taste like a treat even though they are loaded with veggies. If you're looking for another healthy muffin recipe, check out these spinach muffins aka Healthy Hulk Muffins, or these healthy vegan muffins.
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❤️ This recipe is
- quick and easy to make with simple ingredients.
- great for meal prep and grab-and-go snacks.
- a tried and true recipe that never fails me.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Zucchini - 1 1/2 cups shredded or chopped in a food processor. This is usually 1 medium zucchini is the right amount.
- Vegan Sugar - to sweeten the bread. You can reduce it to suit your taste. You can also use brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- Vegetable Oil - for rich moist bread. Any neutral-flavored oil or melted vegan butter will work. (Not virgin olive oil). You can swap it out with apple sauce for an oil-free muffin if you wish.
- Vegan Egg- I like to use a chickpea flour egg, this is 2 tablespoons chickpea flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water to make an egg substitute. (You can also use ground flaxseed to make a flax egg, 1/2 cup of applesauce, or another vegan egg substitute equal to 2 eggs See my post on how to replace an egg for all options).
- Vanilla Extract - for flavor.
- Flour - you can use all-purpose white flour, whole wheat flour, spelt flour, or a gluten-free flour mix. My homemade gluten-free flour mix made with oat flour works great!
- Baking Soda - to help them rise.
- Baking Powder - to help them rise.
- Cinnamon - for flavor. (optional)
Note- It may seem weird that this recipe doesn't call for extra liquid like almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk. this is because fresh zucchini has a ton of liquid in it. When you add sugar to the recipe, it draws the liquid out of the zucchini. Some muffin recipes call for patting the zucchini with paper towels or squeezing it in a clean kitchen towel to get out the excess moisture, but this recipe uses that liquid to retain the vitamins in the muffins.
🔪 Helpful tools
- Food Processor - to chop up the zucchini or you can use a cheese grater to grate the zucchini.
- Large Mixing Bowl - to mix the ingredients.
- Muffin Tin - to bake the muffins in. You can use paper liners or grease the muffin pan.
🥄 How to make vegan zucchini muffins
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
Step 2 - Mix 2 tablespoons of chickpea flour with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and set it aside for about 10 minutes. (Or mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax with 2 1/2 tablespoons water to make make a flax egg.)
Step 3 - Shred zucchini with a cheese grater or chop it very tiny in a food processor and put the grated zucchini in a large bowl.
Step 4 - Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup oil, chickpea egg, and vanilla and give it a stir.
Step 5 - Add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon and stir it again until it forms a thick batter.
Step 6 - Stir in 1/2 cup of mini vegan chocolate chips if desired.
Step 7 - Pour it into a greased muffin tins and fill 3/4 of the way to the top and sprinkle with some more chocolate chips.
Step 8 - Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 18 minutes (or until light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.)
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Use a room temperature zucchini. Cold batter will not rise as well.
- Be sure to allow your chickpea flour egg or flax egg to sit for at least 5-10 minutes before adding to the rest of the wet ingredients. They have to rehydrate fully to work correctly as a binder.
- Be sure to mix the shredded zucchini with the sugar. There is no extra liquid in this recipe and it relies on the liquid from the zucchini which is released when it's sprinkled with sugar.
- Measure the flour carefully by spooning it into your measuring cups.
❓Frequently asked questions
These muffins work great with gluten-free flour too. For gluten-free zucchini muffins, simply swap out the flour for a grain-based gluten-free flour mix. Most all-purpose flour mixes work well. You can also use my homemade gluten-free flour mix. Don't use almond flour or other grain-free flour mixes.
If you want these muffins to be oil-free, simply swap out the oil for equal amounts of apple sauce or mashed banana.
🥡 How to store vegan zucchini muffins
Countertop - These vegan zucchini muffins will keep well at room temperature for about 48 hours. If you don't plan to eat them sooner than that, store them in the fridge or freezer.
Refrigerate: These muffins will keep well in the fridge for 5 - 7 days in an airtight container.
Freeze: Zucchini muffins freeze well and can be stored in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just be sure to squeeze out at much air as possible before freezing.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan zucchini muffins recipe
Vegan Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
Egg replacement
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoons water
Wet ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup zucchini shredded (about 1 medium zucchini)
- 3/4 cup sugar (reduce to 1/2 cup for low sugar muffins)
- 1/3 cup oil (any neutral-flavored oil of choice or swap for 1/3 cup apple sauce for oil-free)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Dry ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup flour (white, wheat, or gluten-free mix)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (mini work best)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Mix 2 tablespoons of chickpea flour with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and set it aside for about 10 minutes. (Or mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax with 2 1/2 tablespoons water to make make a flax egg.)
- Shred zucchini or chop it very tiny in a food processor and put it in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients (3/4 cup sugar, 1/3cup oil, chickpea flour egg mixture, and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla) to the zucchini and stir it.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet (1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon) and stir it again until it forms a thick batter.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of mini vegan chocolate chips if desired.
- Pour it into a greased muffin tin and fill 3/4 of the way to the top and sprinkle with some more chocolate chips.
- Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 18-20 minutes (or until light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.)
Notes
- Use a room temperature zucchini. If you store your zucchini in the fridge allow it to come to room temperature before making muffins. Cold batter will not rise as well.
- Be sure to allow your chickpea flour egg or flax egg to sit for at least 5-10 minutes before adding to the rest of the wet ingredients. They have to rehydrate fully to work correctly as a binder.
- Be sure to mix the shredded zucchini with the sugar. There is no extra liquid in this recipe and it relies on the liquid from the zucchini which is released when it's sprinkled with sugar.
- Measure the flour carefully by spooning it into your measuring cups. The only time I have seen people mess up this recipe is when they pack the flour and get too much.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
I don’t see 1/3 cup of water in the recipe?
I don't see where I say anything about 1/3 cup of water. Where are you seeing this?
If using flax meal then I would use 2 til flax meal and how much water?
To make a flax egg mix 1 tablespoon of flax meal mixed with 2 1/2 tablespoons of water and allowed it to sit for 5 minutes to jell up.
My whole family really enjoyed these! I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup total, and used half sugar and half maple syrup. I also subbed half the oil with applesauce. And use half whole wheat flour and half white. So yummy! The second time I made these, I noticed that the recipe lists 1/3 cup water on the ingredient list, but it's not in the directions. Is that water necessary? The batter was pretty thick without it, but the muffins turned out fine.
Hi Julie, I'm glad that you liked the recipe! The 1/3 cup of water is to be mixed with the flax to make an egg replacement. You can use whatever you want that is equal to 2 eggs. 🙂
Hi, how noticeable is the presence of zucchini? Will these just taste like ‘regular’ chocolate chip, vanilla cupcakes? I don’t exactly like vegetables. Thanks.
The zucchini changes the texture and makes it very moist, so I wouldn't say that it's exactly like a vanilla cupcake. My son hates zucchini but loves these muffins, so you may want to give it a try. 🙂
They are very tasty. Grandson noticed zucchini in making muffins but he can’t taste them in finished product.
Glad that you guys enjoyed them, Melanie! 🙂
Delicious! The best we have ever had!
I'm so happy that you liked them, Liz! 🙂
These are delcious! I made them yesterday for the first time. They came out so well that I made a double batch again today and froze them so I can have one whenever I want. Thanks for the great recipe!
I'm so happy that you liked them, Lilianne! 🙂
Hello, I do not use sugar or oil. Could you please help with adjusting the recipe without oil and sugar?
Thank you,
You can swap out the oil for applesauce if you want. You can use maple syrup instead of sugar or use coconut sugar or some alternative. You can also simply cut the sugar in half, but you need some to draw the moisture out of the zucchini.