Life is full of sacrifices. When I got married, I sacrificed half of my closet space and learned to make room for shaving supplies in the medicine cabinet. When I had a baby, I sacrificed the luxury of a relaxed shower.
Now that Meghan is almost 3 and still clinging to the finicky, I-only-like-vegetables-when-there’s-a-full-moon attitude she developed about 6 months ago, one sacrifice I’m making is that sometimes, one serving of her daily vegetables is going to come in the form of a muffin.
If she’s going to eat a muffin, it’s going to be a wholesome muffin. Don’t you just love that word? By wholesome I mean it can’t be made with white flour (I use whole wheat here), it needs to be low in sugar (this recipe calls for agave nectar) and it has to have some extra goodness (in this case we’ve got zucchini, flax seeds, and coconut oil).
Then I can feel good when she scarfs one down and promptly asks for another.
Wholesome Vegan Zucchini Muffins
A delicious way to get some extra veggies into your diet!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup flax meal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 3/4 cup agave nectar
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat the oven t0 325 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. {As I was ready to make these I realized I was out of liners. I lightly oiled the muffin tins and sprinkled them with flour, and this worked well, too.}
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
- Add the oil, agave nectar, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is just combined. Do not over mix.
- Using a plastic spatula, gently fold in the zucchini just until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
- Scoop 1/3 of the batter into each prepared cup. Bake the muffins on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the muffins stand in the tin for 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Muffins can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Adapted from babycakes by Erin McKenna
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 294
- Sugar: 17.4g
- Sodium: 49.6g
- Fat: 13.1g
- Carbohydrates: 43.5g
- Protein: 4.75g
Keywords: veggie muffins
These muffins are moist, spicy, and just sweet enough. Although life is full of sacrifices, having to eat these is not one of them.
Julie H. of Spinach and Sprinkles says
July 27, 2011 at 9:55 amWay to get those veggies into her growing body! You’ve kept trying through the veggies only on a full moon stage, way to go! I bet she is coming around little by little…. These must be helping the cause greatly! 🙂 Maybe these should be a go in my household!
Maryea says
July 27, 2011 at 4:12 pmI will never give up! 🙂
Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather says
July 27, 2011 at 10:44 amAnytime I can sneak veggie into… Anything I’m down with it! These sound fantastic 🙂
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
July 27, 2011 at 2:44 pmThis looks like a great recipe! Saving this to try, all the ingredients sound great!
Candy (Healthy In Candy Land) says
July 27, 2011 at 4:10 pmThis makes me regret not planting any zucchini in the garden this year! Do you buy your coconut oil in large quantities? Do you know if any particular place has a better price than others? These muffins look awesome! I love that you put ginger in them.
Maryea says
July 27, 2011 at 4:12 pmI get my coconut oil from Kroger, where it is only around $6-7 a jar. This is like half the price I would pay if I got it at the other grocery store I shop at! It’s still expensive, but not out of reach. 🙂
Charissa says
July 27, 2011 at 5:41 pmI love the expression on your daughter’s face! She reminds me of my niece!
These muffins look really great…I love your sneaky-ness about nutrition! 😉
Maryea says
July 28, 2011 at 9:15 pmI would really prefer not to be sneaky about it–ultimately I want Meghan to love veggies in their regular form. But sometimes, you gotta do whatcha gotta do!
[email protected] says
July 27, 2011 at 8:24 pmYou are a much better wife than I am. We have a huge walk-in closet and I don’t share it. He has the guest room closet. haha 🙂
I’m in the same boat with Carter. He loved grilled chicken, lentils, cucumbers, etc. and now he lives on eggs and organic mac n’ cheese. Oh, and lots of fruit. So I just make sure he has a green smoothie everyday. But gosh it’s so frustrating!!! When I can start using oil again (this is tough), I’ll have to try these. I love zucchini anything, but I have a feeling my little guy (and probably the big guy, too) will be picking out the zucchini strands.
Maryea says
July 28, 2011 at 9:12 pmYou could try subbing apple sauce for the oil. I’ve done that with most recipes with success. Meghan didn’t even notice the zucchini strands. 🙂
Kristen @ Change of Pace says
July 27, 2011 at 8:37 pmI will definitely try this! I love having muffins in the freezer for quick breakfasts!
Michaela says
July 28, 2011 at 12:39 pmI want one, please!! So going to make them! I have been keeping my eyes open for a vegan muffin recipe for my aupair children and I think I have found “the one” 🙂 Thx!
Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons says
July 28, 2011 at 6:40 pmawwww that YUM face is priceless! your muffins just made M’s day!
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
July 28, 2011 at 11:05 pmaww whatta good mama you are! I’d ask for another one too. 🙂
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
July 29, 2011 at 3:17 pmThey look AMAZING!!! So moist and delish and love the chunky-ness you retained in the zuke shreds. I love a little texture!
Sharon says
August 14, 2011 at 2:18 pmYour muffins looks so yummy. Did you dehydrate the veggies? I have been trying to bake some muffins with veggies but always failed. The taste and texture doesn’t seem right.
Maryea says
August 14, 2011 at 3:09 pmNo, I didn’t do anything to the zucchini. I just put in in raw (shredded). Try these-the taste and texture is great!
Sharon says
August 14, 2011 at 11:54 pmThanks alot for your reply. I shall try it again.
Jodi says
September 6, 2011 at 9:01 pmMade a dozen on Saturday, my husband and I each ate one and my one year old ate the other 10!! Amazing, keep the vegan recipes coming!!
Maryea says
September 8, 2011 at 2:44 pmGlad you liked them! I love that your 1 year old ate so many–too cute. 🙂
Alina M. says
September 30, 2011 at 9:32 amI baked the muffins last night. They are delicious! I made one change: used whole wheat flour. I made a double batch so that we can freeze some and have them later. This morning I will have 2 muffins with a cup of almond milk for breakfast :). Thank you, Maryea!
Maryea says
October 3, 2011 at 7:02 amYou are welcome! I’m glad they still turned out well with using regular whole wheat flour.
Anneliese says
June 24, 2012 at 2:19 pmI am almost ready to pull these out of the oven and the house smells fabulous! It’s 90 degrees outside and I’m so happy I decided to turn the oven on anyway. My batter made 18 muffins instead of 12. More the merrier!
Maryea says
June 24, 2012 at 9:38 pmMuffins are wonderful no matter what the season, right? I’m glad you decided to turn the oven on, too. 🙂
Anneliese says
June 25, 2012 at 9:04 amOh my. There are only 10 left already! Hubby LOVED them. I was worried about the TBSP of ginger but it blended in very nice with everything else. I especially loved the nutty flavor of the flax. Walnuts weren’t even missed. I was going to throw some in but discovered I didn’t have any. Thanks! I’ll be looking through your site for some more vegetarian/vegan recipes. 🙂
Maryea says
June 27, 2012 at 8:55 amI’m glad you (and your hubby!) liked them! 🙂
Susanne K says
August 20, 2012 at 6:33 amThese are delicious. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Perfect post workout snack!
Maryea says
August 20, 2012 at 8:10 amThanks for coming back and letting me know you tried these. Glad you liked them! 🙂
Veronica Dowdy says
August 27, 2012 at 12:33 pmMy hubby and I recently switched to a vegan diet and we’re always looking for new recipes. These sound amazing and I can’t wait to try them! Thank you 🙂
karin davey says
August 29, 2012 at 11:02 pmWould adding walnuts work in these muffins?
Maryea says
August 30, 2012 at 8:10 pmYes, definitely!
Living Plate says
September 22, 2012 at 9:16 amMy son dragged in an enormous zucchini from the garden this morning, so this was my answer to “what’s for breakfast.” Delicious! I sprinkled a bit of turbinado sugar on top for crunch. We will harvest some carrots tomorrow and repeat the recipe with them for next week’s preschool snack. I love using coconut oil in place of vegetable oil.
Maryea says
September 23, 2012 at 9:45 pmWhat a lucky son to get to see his breakfast go from the garden to his plate. I love it!
Gina says
February 7, 2013 at 11:00 amI used Almond Flour for protein, a little unsweetened shredded coconut, and some raw cacao nibs. I also boiled 9 tablespoons of water and added 1 tablespoon of Chia Seeds until they turned into a gelatinous consistency. My muffins taste good but the center did not rise and seems a little wet. Do you have any suggestions?
Maryea says
February 9, 2013 at 8:23 pmDid you use almond flour instead of the whole wheat flour? Those two flours don’t work in the same way so can’t really be subbed 1:1. I also think the addition of the chia egg would change the consistency, perhaps making it too wet.
Rosalee says
July 11, 2013 at 7:58 pmI just found your site and made these; they are phenomenal! I actually got 18 (but used just a little over 2 c. zuc), very light, great taste! I think this is my favorite recipe!! Thank you for sharing and please keep your creations coming!
Maryea says
July 14, 2013 at 6:20 amHi Rosalee! I’m glad you liked these. Thanks so much for letting me know. 🙂
Suzy says
March 18, 2014 at 3:22 pmI was wondering what I could substitute for the agave. Any suggestions?
Maryea says
March 18, 2014 at 4:49 pmIf you aren’t a strict vegan, honey can be used. Maple syrup would work as well.
Suzy says
March 18, 2014 at 4:52 pmIf I were to use honey or maple syrup, would it be a 1:1 ratio? Also, can I substitute applesauce for the coconut oil?
Maryea says
March 19, 2014 at 2:52 pmYes, it would be a 1:1 ratio. You can substitute apple sauce for the coconut oil, but the texture will not be the same.