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Home » Recipes » Breakfast » Muffins » Fluffy Whole Wheat Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Fluffy Whole Wheat Carrot Zucchini Muffins

By Taesha Butler July 11, 2022 (Updated February 16, 2023) 13 Comments

Servings12 muffins
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time22 mins
Jump to Recipe
4.86 from 7 votes

Healthy Carrot Zucchini Muffins are naturally sweetened, perfectly moist, and delightfully fluffy. Made from whole grains, naturally sweetened, full of protein from yogurt, and loaded with 2 cups of veggies, these muffins are the perfect healthy breakfast, lunch boxes or a quick snack option.

A carrot zucchini muffin on a marble table with a knife next to it and blurred muffins in the background.

If you took a peek in my fridge on any given day, I can almost guarantee that you’d find a zucchini and a bag of carrots chilling in my crisper. Both are two of my top veggie staples to keep on hand for easy veggie-loading. I find them so easy to throw into all kinds of dishes, but I especially love both in veggie-loaded muffins.

These Carrot Zucchini Muffins are inspired by my super popular Healthy Lunchbox Muffins. These muffins are equally perfect for lunch boxes, but made with whole wheat flour, plain yogurt, and applesauce for extra soft, fluffy, and moist muffins. Easy to throw together in 10 minutes and baked up to perfection in just 22 minutes, this muffin recipe has 2 cups of veggies in it and is lighter on the sugar than a traditional muffin recipe. It makes 12 perfectly sweetened muffins that store beautifully in your fridge or freezer, so this recipe is perfect to make as part of meal prep. Naturally vegetarian, nut-free and can easily be made dairy-free when you use your favorite plant base yogurt.

Do you need to peel the carrots and zucchini for these muffins?

I do recommend peeling carrots before grating. People can sometimes find the skin of carrot bitter and peeling removes that. If you don’t mind the taste of the skin, feel free to leave it on.

Zucchini, on the other hand, has thin, tender, and totally tasty skin. So, peeling is optional and a step I often skip to save time. However, if you have a selective eater in the house that doesn’t love a little green in their baked goods, peeling your zucchini will make it almost melt in these muffins.

How do you squeeze out the carrots and zucchini?

  1. First, peel the carrots and then grate both the carrots and the zucchini.
  2. Then place both in the middle of a paper towel or a clean dish towel.
  3. Wrap up the grated veggies in the towel and press down to draw out the water.
  4. Flip it and press down again. At this point, it should be good to go into the batter for these healthy breakfast muffins.

Tips for baking with whole wheat flour.

First, it is important to know that whole wheat flour is a much “thirstier” flour than APF (all purpose flour). Meaning, it absorbs more liquid. Using APF as a direct swap for whole wheat in a baked good will often result in a wetter (even mushy) bake.

Whole wheat flour is much denser than APF as well. Because of this, it is VERY important NOT to over mix the batter for these carrot zucchini muffins. Mixing activates the gluten in the flour. The more mixing you do, the denser these healthy carrot zucchini muffins will be. For the fluffiest muffins, be sure to mix until JUST combined.

Dry ingredients for carrot zucchini muffins in a bowl with a whisk.
Wet ingredients for carrot zucchini muffins in a large measuring cup. There is a muffin tine and a bowl with dry ingredients next to it.
Bowl with the wet and dry ingredients for carrot zucchini muffins being mixed together.

Tips and tricks for the best muffins

Let them cool for a bit before enjoying. 

I know nothing is better than warm muffins fresh from the oven. I totally hear ya. But, insider tip, baked goods are still cooking when they are removed from the oven. As they cool, these carrot zucchini muffins will firm up and finish setting. Biting into one of these muffins might make you think they are soggy in the middle and need longer to bake, when actually they are done after cooling!

Don’t over mix the batter. 

On thing that makes these carrot zucchini muffins so great is how fluffy they are. The key to that fluff is to mix the wet and dry ingredients together until JUST combined. Over mixing can lead to dense, flat muffins. Booooo. No one wants that. So stop yourself from over mixing!

A bowl with the batter for carrot zucchini muffins in a bowl with grated carrots and zucchini on top.
The batter for carrot zucchini muffins in a bowl with a green spatula.

How to store these muffins

These muffins can hang out on your counter for a day, but if you plan to enjoy them over several days pop them in the fridge! Keeping them in an airtight container in your refrigerator will help to keep these moist muffins fresh longer and prevent molding.

Or you can freeze them! I like to store them in a large freezer bag or freezer-safe large container. To defrost, I like to take them out of the freezer and leave them on the counter to thaw overnight. Or, you can warm a muffin in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds.

Suggested Adaptations

Add raisins or chocolate chips. Both make these already tasty muffins even better!

Add chopped nuts. Like walnuts or pecans.

Make them dairy-free by replacing the yogurt with your favorite plant-based yogurt or sour cream.

The batter for carrot zucchini muffins in a muffin tin before baking.
Carrot zucchini muffins on a cooling rack on a white marble table. There is a glass of milk and a butter knife on the table.

Other veggie-load muffin recipes you will love…

  • Healthy Pineapple Carrot Muffins
  • Blueberry Avocado Muffins
  • Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with veggies!)
  • Healthy Zucchini Lemon Muffins
  • Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Muffins
  • Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins

Loving these veggie muffins and are hungry for more?

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A carrot zucchini muffin on a plate with a knife that has been cut in half. There are more muffins and a bowl of milk next to the plate.

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Print Recipe
4.86 from 7 votes

Fluffy Whole Wheat Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Healthy carrot zucchini muffins are naturally sweetened, perfectly moist, and delightfully fluffy. Made from whole grains, naturally sweetened, full of protein from yogurt, and loaded with 2 cups of veggies, these muffins are the perfect healthy breakfast, lunch boxes or a quick snack option.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time22 mins
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: carrots, zucchini
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 156kcal
Author: Taesha Butler

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • 1 cup grated carrot
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ⅓ cup coconut sugar or granulated sugar
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 large eggs
  • ⅓ cup avocado oil or melted coconut oil or butter
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup plain yogurt
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce can sub ripe mashed banana

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.
  • Place grated zucchini and carrots in the middle of a paper towel or clean dish cloth. Wrap it up and press to remove as much moisture as possible. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, oil, vanilla, yogurt, and applesauce together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Batter will be thick.
  • Fold in drained zucchini and carrots. Again, don't over mix.
  • Portion the batter into prepared muffin tins, filling to the top.
  • Bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before eating! They will firm up as they cool.
    Allow them to cool completely before storing in fridge in an air-tight container for 5 days or in your freezer for months.

Nutrition

Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 190mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1876IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1mg

The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!

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Filed Under: Muffins, Nut-Free, Snacks, Vegetarian Tagged With: carrot, zucchini

Previous Post: « Healthy Chocolate Waffles (with added greens)
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    Did you make this recipe? So good, right? It would mean the world to me if you left a comment and star rating so that more people can see how delicious veggie-loading can be. Plus, it helps me to see what recipes you are all loving so I can make more like them.

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    Comments

  1. Heather

    July 14, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    Sooo delicious! I just made these with my 2.5 year old and they came out so light and airy and tasty. We loved making them together and I love that she knows the veggies are in there because she helped and thinks they are just as delicious as I do. Mama and toddler approved!

    Reply
  2. Heather

    July 14, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    5 stars
    Definitely 5 stars!

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      July 21, 2022 at 6:00 pm

      Yay!! SO glad you enjoyed them!

      Reply
  3. Brooke

    July 15, 2022 at 12:11 am

    5 stars
    Excellent!
    Just went with a lot of randomness I had on hand and they were awesome.
    Did bobs oat flour and raisins and buttermilk instead of yogurt (what I had!) I’ll totally keep making these often.

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      July 21, 2022 at 6:00 pm

      I’m so glad you not only were able to make them work for you without running to the store, but that you also loved them!

      Reply
  4. Lindsay Maielli

    September 9, 2022 at 10:23 am

    4 stars
    We made these this week! Big fan of TNN veggie loaded muffins! We used avocado oil, coconut sugar and unsweetened applesauce. We also added 1/3 c. of Enjoy Life dark choc chips. In the future, if I do this same combination, I’d up the coconut sugar to a 1/2 cup to make them a bit sweeter. If I had used coconut oil or mashed banana as replacements for oil/applesauce or had I used cane sugar, I don’t think that would be needed. Overall though great muffins!

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      September 11, 2022 at 3:53 pm

      Glad you enjoyed! Great feedback, Lindsay!

      Reply
  5. Camille

    November 11, 2022 at 9:56 am

    Is any adjustment needed to the recipe if three extra large eggs are used instead of three large eggs?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      November 13, 2022 at 2:51 pm

      If they are extra large eggs, I might reduce the applesauce to 1/3 of a cup to balance everything out.

      Reply
  6. Jessica

    February 26, 2023 at 4:58 pm

    What’s a good replacement for avocado oil?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      February 27, 2023 at 9:08 am

      Any neutral tasting oil will work fine! Vegetable oil, canola oil. I even make them with olive oil.

      Reply
  7. Tania

    March 27, 2023 at 12:03 pm

    Do you think these would be good with sunflower butter?

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      March 27, 2023 at 1:25 pm

      Like, on top after baking? Yes! I bet that would be delicious.

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Taesha! I help busy people fall in love with healthy eating with my simple, family-friendly, veggie-loaded recipes. I believe vegetables can and SHOULD be delicious. Here, let me show you how!

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