These Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins are filled with shredded apple and zucchini, cinnamon, a hint of nutmeg, and topped with cinnamon sugar. If you’re ready for Fall flavors but still have plenty of zucchini, these muffins are the perfect easy breakfast to make!
Apple cinnamon is one of my personal favorite flavors.
I don’t think I used to like it as much because I didn’t like the texture of cooked apple chunks in baked goods. But now I’ve learned that I just need to either make the chunks really small or just SHRED the apple instead!
I love this recipe because you’re already shredding your zucchini in your food processor, so you might as well throw an apple in at the end too! No extra knife, cutting board or time needed.
Plus, August is the perfect zucchini and apple cinnamon flavor combo month. I still have zucchini coming out of my ears from my garden, but Fall is just around the corner and I’m ready to start baking with more spices!!
Which makes these Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins a great end of Summer breakfast with classic flavors that no one can resist.
They’re extra moist from the shredded zucchini and lightly sweetened with brown sugar and applesauce. They’re made healthy with less butter and less sugar, and I like to top them with a light cinnamon sugar topping too!
If you’ve got tons of zucchini, love apple cinnamon, and need a new simple breakfast recipe, then these are the muffins for you! 🙂
Before you bake, let’s chat about ingredients.
You can use regular all purpose flour in these muffins or a high quality gluten-free all purpose flour blend (I like King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1) to make these muffins gluten-free.
To make these muffins dairy-free, you’ll need to use either coconut oil (or a dairy-free butter alternative) and almond milk (or another similar dairy-free milk).
These healthy muffins are made with less butter/oil and less sugar, so they’re lightly sweet. I think the cinnamon sugar topping goes a long way in helping them still be plenty sweet. I wouldn’t recommend leaving it off unless you are used to baked goods that are less sweet.
And don’t forget to pat your zucchini dry!
While you’re making these muffins, you’ll need to pat your zucchini dry prior to adding it to your muffin batter. Since each zucchini has a different amount of moisture, I recommend lightly patting it dry in case your zucchini is too wet. I put mine between two paper towels and gently push down. Then you can add your zucchini to your muffin batter.
I recommend shredding your zucchini and apple with a food processor, if you have one. It makes the whole process so quick and easy!
Last, if you would like to you can add a couple more things into your muffins. A 1/2 cup or so of walnuts or pecans would be delicious, and I think cinnamon chips (if you can find them at the store!) would also be beyond amazing.
These healthy muffins are made with less oil, less sugar, and still packed with zucchini and apple cinnamon flavor. They’re simple to make, and great for the end of Summer.
If you make these Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins, take pictures and tag me in them on Instagram. Or leave me a comment on this post. It makes my day hearing feedback and seeing all of your baked goods!
And if you want more apple cinnamon flavored recipes, I’d say you should take a look at my Apple Cinnamon Waffles, Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Apple Cinnamon Bread, and Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins.
- 1 3/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (or regular flour)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter, softened (or coconut oil, for dairy-free)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (skim, 2%, whole or almond)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup zucchini (shredded), squeezed and patted dry
- 1 cup apple, shredded or finely diced (granny smith, fuji or gala)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
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To begin, preheat your oven to 425 and spray a muffin tin with no-stick spray.
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To a small mixing bowl, add your flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt and stir them together.
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter, brown sugar and applesauce and whisk them together till well combined (or beat them lightly with a hand mixer). Add your milk, vanilla and eggs and whisk again till well combined.
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Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir together till you have a smooth, even batter. Add your zucchini and apple and gently fold them into your batter. Fill each muffin tin about 3/4 full with the muffin batter.
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In a small mixing bowl, add your cinnamon sugar topping ingredients and stir them together. Sprinkle the topping evenly across the tops of your muffins (about 1 overflowing teaspoon of topping for each muffin).
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Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then reduce your oven to 350 and bake for another 17-19 minutes, or till the tops are springy to touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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Devour!
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge these muffins will last about 5-7 days.
These are so addicting and have become a staple in my home. They are so moist and not too sweet which we really like. The kids can be super picky but actually love them too. Overall these are a great option for making healthier muffins!
I don’t read a whole book -Usually -before I make a recipe. I just follow the recipe. It was only after I added the zucchini that I saw earlier in your “notes” To do this. So recipe ruined.
No flavor. Dont know what I did wrong.Used all purpose flour. Didn’t pay dry zucchini. Agree seem slightly under cooked .
Mine are in the oven and smell great. however I didn’t see until now that I was supposed to drain the zuchinni. can you add the word drained to the actual recipe. many times ppl skip directly to the recipe. I hope mine still turn out OK. I’m sure my 3 year old will devour them regardless!
I can do that, thanks Mia!
I make this recipe at least once a month. Sometimes I double apple and drop zucchini. It is a hit every time. Thank you for sharing this.
They taste delicious but mine just wouldn’t cook completely. There was dough in them yet even after cooking an extra 10 minutes.
Hi Christina. I’m sorry, that’s odd. Did you pat the zucchini dry? And what flour did you use?
I live above 6,100 ft. These turned out perfectly. I cooked them for 21 minutes after the initial 5 minutes. I added mini dairy and gluten free chocolate chips and skipped the cinnamon sugar topping. I grated both the zucchini and apple.
Thank you, Gaylynn! I love hearing from fellow high altitude friends 🙂
Delicious muffins baked up very nicely at around 5300 ft. They required an additional 10 minutes bake time for me. Since I have a digital oven I assume it was the moisture, but the rise was good, no sinking. They were so good I’m making another batch tomorrow to bring to church on Sunday. Yay!
P.S. Great way to use zucchini which is PROLIFIC right now Lol