Greek Yogurt Healthy Zucchini Muffins made with better-for-you ingredients.
Healthy Zucchini Muffins
These healthy zucchini muffins are insanely good! If you’re looking for healthier options without sacrificing flavor — these are just the thing to make! My kids could NOT get enough of these and I could barely photograph them before they were all gone. Seriously, I started out with all 12 on my photography surface and by the time I was done, only 5 were left.
And, in case you were wondering, my shoot only took about 20-30 minutes
There are a few “secret ingredients” that make these healthy zucchini muffins taste phenomenal and also help to keep them healthier. First off, they have a mixture of regular flour and oat flour in them. The oat flour literally takes seconds to make – just blend up regular old fashioned or quick oats in your blender or food processor until a flour consistency and VOILA done!
The other secret to these delicious muffins is the Greek yogurt. I personally LOVE vanilla Greek yogurt in these. In my opinion, it is hugely different from plain Greek yogurt and so much better. The other thing to note with the yogurt is the fat content and quality you get. The better your Greek yogurt and the higher percentage of fat (healthy fats!) in your muffins, the richer and better these will taste. I prefer using 2% vanilla flavored Greek yogurt for these muffins. The yogurt allows these muffins to be healthier while still moist and soft and also adds a whole ton of flavor. If you are in a pinch, regular Greek yogurt works as well, but try vanilla if you can!
The last secret ingredient in these muffins is a little bit of banana. Weird right?! But it’s the perfect ingredient to bind all the others and make for the perfect texture on these muffins. It also acts as a natural sweetener AND an extra hidden healthy ingredient which is a win-win.
Healthier Greek Yogurt Zucchini Muffins made with better-for-you ingredients.
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil, measured when melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons very ripe mashed banana
- 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup oat flour (just blend up regular oats in a blender or food processor)
- 1 cup white flour or use white-whole wheat
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup lightly packed grated zucchini
- Make sure you have thoroughly dried the zucchini to keep it from being too wet/watery in the finished muffins. I do this using paper towels and squeezing the grated zucchini. (Zucchini should be grated on the small side of the grater)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease and flour a regular sized muffin tin.
In a bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, 1 large egg, coconut oil (measured when melted, but cooled to room temperature), and honey.
In a small bowl, mash the banana really well. The banana is very important for binding of the muffins and a lower calorie sweetening. The more ripe - the better.
- Stir in the banana and brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, stir together the oat flour (measured AFTER blending. I use regular old fashioned or quick oats and quickly pulse them in a blender or food processor until they resemble flour. Then measure and add to the bowl), white or white-whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the dry to the wet and mix until just combined. Over-mixing will result in dense muffins.
Stir in the grated zucchini.
Pour the mixture evenly into the 12 muffin tins.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted into the center comes out clean and the edges are lightly browned. Avoid over-baking which will make these dense.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Best enjoyed within 2-3 days.
More Baked Goods with Greek Yogurt:
Healthy Greek Yogurt Banana Bread
Joanne says
I just followed you on IG! OMG, your baby is TOO CUTE. Seriously, adorable. I don’t know how you get any baking done!
Yay for healthy breakfast muffins! These sound like the perfect way to start the day!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
These look delish girl! I love love love zucchini bread…and muffins are a fun little version!
chelseamessyapron says
Thanks Taylor! 🙂
Kathi @ Deliciously Yum! says
Oh yum! These look incredible – love the little pieces of zucchini peaking through.
chelseamessyapron says
Thank so much Kathi! We should swap muffins for your awesome looking pb&j granola bars! I feel like I’d be getting the better part of the deal though – those look ahhhhmazing!
Beth @ bethcakes says
Love this healthy/zucchini bread spin on muffins! They look wonderful, and I love those shots of the lemons and zucchini. And every time I see a photo of your little guy on IG, I always think, “OMG, that baby is so. cute.” haha. He’s going to be so lucky when he’s old enough to eat all this amazing food you make! 🙂
chelseamessyapron says
Thanks Beth! Hahaha oh thank you so much, I am pretty much way obsessed with the little guy. He’s so fun! And I’m super excited for him to be older so I won’t always have so many leftovers 🙂
Jessica @ Jessiker Bakes says
Aww your baby sounds so adorable! I can imagine what a joy it must be to watch him grow. These zucchini bread muffins look absolutely delicious! Having them in muffin size makes them so fun!
chelseamessyapron says
It is soo much fun to watch him grow and change, but definitely goes too quickly! Thanks Jessica 🙂
Kelly - LEFT SIDE OF THE TABLE says
Wonderful pictures! I have never baked with zucchini! Embarrassing! love the ingredients you used. Thanks for the recipe Chelsea! Hope you are having a great Friday 😀
chelseamessyapron says
I rarely bake with zucchini – mostly just bread and muffins 🙂 Thank you Kelly! Hope your weekend has been great!
Christine @ Cooking with Cakes says
1 – I stalk your baby on insta bc he is adorable in every way!
2- Zucchini muffins/bread were on my to-do list awhile ago, but eventually they got lost in the shuffle. Thanks for bringing them back to my attention, bc I love me some zucch!!!
chelseamessyapron says
Haha 1- I love you for stalking my baby and thinking he’s adorable. Haha because I’m pretty much obsessed with the little guy. 2. I love zucchini too – definitely one of my favorites! Hope you are having a good weekend Christine!
Consuelo @ Honey & Figs says
Awwh, your boy is adorable indeed!
And these muffins look delicious! I love how they’re healthy enough for breakfast, and the zucchini additions is brilliant too :–)
chelseamessyapron says
Thank you Consuelo! He’s such a fun little guy 🙂
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps says
I love hearing about your little one, and it gives me MAJOR baby fever. Well, actually EVERYTHING is giving me baby fever lately! 🙂 I’m loving all the healthy recipes floating around right now, just when I need ’em! These look perfect Chelsea!
chelseamessyapron says
Haha babies are the best! Everything changes a lot, but it’s all so much fun and I love it! Thanks Nicole 🙂
marcie says
These are muffins after my own heart! I love making healthy muffins so I don’t feel guilty about eating them — these look perfect. Pinning! 🙂
chelseamessyapron says
I totally agree – I love good snacks that are good for you 🙂 Thanks for the pin Marcie!
Kelly says
Your lil guy sounds so adorable and fun – it’s amazing how fast they grow and so glad you are enjoying every giggly moment 🙂 These muffins look awesome Chelsea – such a tasty and healthy breakfast 🙂
Lynna says
Haha, your little boy is super adorable!! And, this is totally your space. So, you can go off as many tangents as you want! 🙂 These muffins sound great!!
Cindy @ Hun... What's for Dinner? says
These muffins look fabulous! Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
Sarah & Arkadi says
beautiful looking muffins!
Amy says
Most delicious! I just made these with a few minor changes. I used self rising flour (because I had nothing else on hand!), omitted the powder, only added 1/4 tsp of soda and salt, and used organic brown sugar and then baked them in mini muffin pans. I adjusted the cooking times as well to accommodate for the smaller muffins – 3 mins at 425 followed by 8 at 350. My twin 18month olds ate five each!
cass says
had an abundance of zucchini from the garden so thought i’d try these out 🙂 they came out pretty good, and there was enough muffin mix for 11 cups and mine did rise quite a bit. after the written cook time, they didn’t seem quite done so i kept them in for about 3 more mins. after they cooled i realized they still weren’t quite cooked enough in the middle :/ next time i’d up the cook time even more. thanks for the recipe!
MrsKeeks says
Yum – looking for snacks for my 15 month old and going to try these this weekend! Thoughts on adding a banana?
chelseamessyapron says
Awesome!! I hope you love them! I haven’t ever added a banana but I think without compensating with other ingredients (more flour for example) they would be pretty wet and moist.
Marie white says
made your muffins tonite love zucchini really good but u dont have calorie count for them