Carrot zucchini muffins are so yummy sprinkled with cinnamon sugar! This recipe is the perfect use for extra zucchini squash in the summer.
Hello, dog days of summer. With this intense heat and rolling thunderstorms comes an abundance of summer squash in the gardens. I took full advantage of this harvest (and the air conditioning being on) and baked carrot zucchini muffins.
It’s incredible how quickly zucchini grows in the garden and how large the squash can get! A few years back my mom grew a zucchini the size of her calf. No joke, I think she baked five loaves of zucchini bread from it.
How to make carrot zucchini muffins
A few basic ingredients are needed to carrot zucchini muffins: vegetable oil, eggs, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, zucchini and carrots. Then it’s just a few easy steps!
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
- Whisk together wet ingredients: vegetable oil, eggs, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla. Mix in a medium bowl until combined and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.
- Stir in shredded zucchini and carrots. Again, stir just until combined.
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin dividing evenly among 12 cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired (optional).
- Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How to shred carrots and zucchini
Use a box grater (or food processor) to shred carrots and zucchini. These simple steps make it easy:
- Rinse and dry vegetables. Use a vegetable peeler to peel skin off carrots. Leave zucchini skin as is. Cut one end off of zucchini.
- Place box grater on a sturdy surface such as a cutting board or, if possible, over a big bowl to catch the shredded vegetables.
- Slide zucchini/carrot up and down the coarse holes of the box grater. Continue until you get to the end of the vegetable (be careful with your fingers). Discard the stub.
Have lots of zucchini? Try my moist zucchini bread recipe.
How to store carrot zucchini muffins
Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. Muffins are best when eaten the day they are baked.
Can you freeze muffins?
Yes, once the muffins have cooled, wrap them individually with plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the freezer. Muffins can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator before bringing to room temperature and serving.
How to reheat muffins
Preheat oven to 300 F. Place muffins on a baking sheet or in a muffin tin. Warm in oven until heated through, about 12 to 15 minutes. You can also reheat muffins in a toaster oven.
More zucchini and carrot recipes
Do you have a lot of zucchini and carrots in the house? My favorite thing make is homemade carrot cake. It has the most luscious cream cheese frosting and you can make carrot cake cupcakes!
If your garden is overflowing with zucchini, try my moist zucchini bread. It’s a super easy quick bread that can be easily doubled. My chocolate zucchini banana bread is the perfect use for brown bananas and zucchini!
And just to show you how easy these carrot zucchini muffins are to make, I included a recipe video to follow along with. If you make these muffins, remember to tag @ifyougiveablondeakitchen so I can see!
Carrot Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (156 ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar,
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (160 g) finely shredded unpeeled zucchini, patted dry¹
- 1/2 cup (40 g) finely shredded carrot, patted dry¹
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together vegetable oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined (be careful not to over mix). Add shredded zucchini and carrot, and stir until incorporated.
- Use a spoon (or an ice cream scoop) to transfer batter into prepared muffin pan until each cup is about three-quarters full. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon sugar if desired². Bake at 375° F for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with little to no crumbs.
- Cool muffins in the pan for 3 minutes then remove muffins to a wire cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
- Pat the veggies mostly dry with a paper towel before measuring/weighing.
- Cinnamon sugar topping: Stir 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle over the muffins before baking.
- Healthy substitutes: Replace oil with 2/3 cup applesauce (or do 1/3 cup applesauce 1/3 cup vegetable oil). Whole wheat flour may also be used.
- Kitchen scale to weigh ingredients (it’s more accurate than measuring them)
- Box grater to grate carrots and zucchini
- Mixing bowls to stir the ingredients together
- Standard muffin tin to bake the muffins in
Nutrition
Inspired by The Spruce.
Melissa Griffiths says
These muffins looks perfect! I love all things zucchini, and I’m excited about the addition of carrot!
Sasha says
What’s the best way to store muffins so that they don’t go soggy?
Haley says
Hi Sasha! I like to store my muffins in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag. I place a paper towel at the bottom and avoid stacking the muffins. The paper towel will help absorb moisture!
Kathy says
Instead of oil, can you use yogurt or applesauce
Haley says
Hi Kathy! I suggest unsweetened apple sauce. I have not made this recipe with apple sauce, however, but breads and muffins use that substitution often.
Dora Thomsan says
While searching over the internet about the ideas to manage kitchen pantry I found your food blog. And while start reading your blogs I love it too much and start following your blog recipes for cooking. Great tips for cooking thanks for sharing with us.
Oregonleduc says
Great recipe! Isubstituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil and coconut sugar for the brown sugar. They turned out moist and delicious. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
Gen says
Very delicious! My daughters loved them.
Sonja P Ebron says
I so love the zuchinni and carrot muffins so does the people that work in the office here where i live they are delicious!!! Thank you for recipe,and so does other relatives ive shared with
Kendra says
These muffins are great, I made them exactly as instructed except I accidentally shredded everything on the large shred side of the food processor: They were still awesome in case anybody makes the same mistake. We ate all 12 in one day… About to make a double batch!
Sam Schiopu says
First time baking with carrot or zucchini and these were fantastic! Taste like carrot cake and can’t tell there’s zucchini in at all. I grated my veggies instead of finely shredding but it still turned out fine. My toddler also loved them which is great, always glad to fit in more veggies for her. So glad I found your recipe. Thank you for sharing it!
Rachelle says
I substituted coconut oil instead. But next time I would use far less sugar. They are way too sweet for me. My husband might enjoy them. The risk of trying a new recipe.
Samantha says
More like cupcakes than muffins, not that that’s a bad thing, just sayin’. Would make again since such an easy, fail-proof recipe & great flavor. Great idea doing both veggies! I did need to add 2 minutes to my baking time.