Healthy Banana Zucchini Muffins with whole wheat flour, shredded zucchini, ripe banana and studded with dark chocolate chunks for decadence! Made in one bowl and baked in 20 minutes for perfect wholesome snacks and busy mornings.
Love the combination of fruit and veggies in your baked goods? Make healthy zucchini muffins or healthy zucchini banana bread next!
Table of contents
Healthy banana zucchini muffins are a good reason to turn on your oven this summer. So are lemon zucchini muffins and healthy zucchini bread.
No refined sugar, whole grain, low oil plus filled with fruits and veggies. Sign me up for a double batch!
I know there are many muffins out there but mine are the best! I swear, just check 5 star reviews! The world’s most delicious zucchini banana bread muffins.
These healthy muffins are so moist and fluffy! They will become a regular in your healthy breakfast rotation. The ratio of everything is just spot on.
I promise, you just need to turn on the oven and make them.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The combination of mashed ripe banana, zucchini, plus dark chocolate will have you loving eating veggies for breakfast!
- Bananas: Ripe bananas to overripe. The uglier bananas, the sweeter the muffins. You can also use previously frozen bananas or here is how to ripen bananas fast.
- Zucchini: Shred on medium size hole grater and pack in the measuring cup. Do not squeeze.
- Dark chocolate bar: 100 grams or 3.5 oz dark chocolate bar. My kids loved banana zucchini muffins with 70% dark chocolate, I found them a bit too sweet and prefer unsweetened chocolate or 90% dark chocolate. You can use 1/2 cup chocolate chips, if preferred.
- Whole wheat or spelt flour: These are only 2 flours I would recommend to use because other flours act differently. Baking is a science and it is best to follow the recipe for favorable results.
- Maple syrup: Any liquid sweetener like honey, agave or brown rice syrup works. As long as it’s not sugar. Dry sweetener will offset the ratios and batter won’t work.
- Egg: Room temperature for best results.
- Oil: Any mild tasting oil works.
- Baking staples: Baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, and salt.
How to Make Healthy Banana Zucchini Muffins
Made in one bowl these healthy banana zucchini muffins couldn’t be easier to whip up!
Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line muffin tin with parchment paper liners.
Chop the chocolate bar by running a chef’s knife through it on a cutting board. You want some small pieces but otherwise keep chocolate to larger chunks.
Also now it’s time to grate zucchini on a medium size hole of a box grater.
Make batter: In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk the egg. Add bananas and mash well, using a masher or a fork.
Add grated zucchini, maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine, you can also use same masher to stir the liquids. Now add flour and gently stir with spatula until well incorporated.
Last, add your reserved chopped chocolate and give a few more gentle stirs.
Fill muffin tin and bake: Fill tin almost full with batter. I like to use a trigger ice cream scoop as it distributes the batter evenly, quickly and without a waste.
Bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remember all ovens vary, so just check and play it by ear.
Then cool your healthy banana zucchini muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then on a cooling rack for as long as you can resist. And enjoy!
Variations
- Make it egg free: Omit the egg and learn how to make a flax egg or chia egg for vegan banana zucchini muffins.
- Mini muffins: Set the time for 12 minutes, then test. If mini muffins are not done, add 3 minutes and so forth. Mini muffins can take anywhere from 15-18 minutes.
- Loaf: Reduce oven temp to 350F degrees and bake 50-60 minutes for a full sized 9×5 loaf or 25-30 minutes for miniature loaf.
- Oil free: You can try half oil and half applesauce to lower the amount of oil. This has only been reader tested. You may like these almond flour zucchini muffins which contain no oil.
- Yellow summer squash: Could be used instead of zucchini. Carrots could be tried, or make my healthy morning glory muffins instead.
- Swap berries for chocolate: I recommend fresh or frozen blueberries, or just make these healthy blueberry banana muffins.
Can I Substitute the Whole Wheat Flour?
Baking is a science and the only flours I tested in this healthy banana zucchini muffins recipe are whole wheat flour and spelt flour.
You may try to use all-purpose flour or gluten free flour blend with a total amount of 1 cup. You just need a tad less of it than of whole grain flour to avoid dry muffins.
I think you can get away with half whole wheat flour and half white flour, for sure.
White whole wheat and whole wheat pastry flour more likely will work 1:1 ratio. Please let me know if you try.
Coconut flour will not work as it is very “thirsty”. And almond flour is basically ground up almond and has no gluten, so it acts very differently too. Try my reader favorite almond flour banana muffins instead. Also these oat flour banana muffins are gluten free as well.
More FAQs
No. The skin of zucchini is thin and edible. Grating it on medium size hole makes zucchini barely noticeable. However, if selective eaters in your house turn their nose up at green flecks in their banana muffins with zucchini, by all means peel it and your zucchini becomes invisible.
Do not squeeze the water out of your zucchini for this muffin recipe! Shredded zucchini is what keeps these muffins moist. All recipes vary.
Yes! Just be sure to thaw them first and use the extra liquid as well. Got more bananas? Check out these 10 healthy banana snack recipes!
Previously grated and frozen, yes. Just thaw it a bit or completely and use the liquid as well.
How to Store
I like to store muffins covered with a towel on a kitchen counter for the first 2 days.
Since these are healthy banana zucchini muffins and contain minimal oil and natural sweetener, I transfer muffins to an airtight container and refrigerate for another 3 days.
Refrigeration helps muffins to retain moisture. If there are any leftovers, of course.
Storage Tip
Don’t miss my detailed posts how to store muffins and how to freeze muffins to make sure your leftover muffins stay fresh longer.
How to Freeze
Place cooled muffins in a gallon size Ziploc bag, let as much air as possible and freeze for up to 3 months. Mini quick breads take about 3 hours to thaw on a counter, muffins will thaw in less time.
More Healthy Banana Muffins Recipes
- Healthy banana chocolate chip muffins
- Applesauce banana muffins
- Healthy banana oatmeal muffins
- Healthy banana blueberry muffins
- Banana carrot muffins
- Banana protein muffins
- Vegan banana muffins
More Healthy Muffins Recipes
- Chocolate zucchini muffins
- Zucchini chocolate chip muffins
- Zucchini carrot muffins
- Healthy carrot muffins
- Healthy chocolate chip muffins
You may also love these healthy zucchini recipes!
Healthy Banana Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 3 large very ripe bananas (1 cup) mashed
- 1 cup grated zucchini packed and not squeezed
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 3 tbsp any mild tasting oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour or spelt flour
- 3.5 oz dark chocolate bar coarsely chopped
- Cooking spray I use Misto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray non-stick 12 muffin tin with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg. Add bananas and mash well.
- Add zucchini, maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Now add flour and gently stir until well incorporated. Do not over mix otherwise muffins will be tough. Add chocolate chunks and give a few more gentle stirs.
- Fill each tin almost full with batter (I used trigger ice cream scoop) and bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool for about 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to cool off more.
Notes
- Store: Store in a cold dry place for a few days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Bananas: Make sure they are very ripe. The uglier bananas, the sweeter the muffins. If using frozen, thaw and use liquid.
- Zucchini: Grate on medium size hole of box grater to “hide”, on larger to show off. Do not peel or squeeze. If using frozen shredded, thaw and use the liquids.
I tripled your recipe because I had lots of bananas and zucchini in the house but unfortunately only had a quarter cup of maple syrup. I substituted a half a cup of coconut sugar to replace the half a cup of maple syrup because I didn’t see your note about dry sugar until too late! They turned out delicious. Maybe a little bit sweet but all in all very good.
Awesome! That’s fantastic!
I’m in the process of baking these muffins My first batch of 12 did not rise and I’m embarrassed to say I added 2 more cups of zucchini. I wasn’t paying attention. So what can do to fix this recipe.? More flour? Help!!
Yes more flour and a pinch of soda and baking powder until the proper muffin batter consistency. They will be less sweet too. Hope they will sort of rise.
I have made these muffins several times now. They are always a hit with my 3 y/o and husband! We’ve modified the recipe various ways, including adding extra zucchini, blueberries, nuts and raisins, forgo chocolate, etc. It’s a very versatile recipe.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Sarah!
These were perfect! Fluffy, just the right amount of sweetness and healthy! Easy to follow recipe – thanks for all your work to bring excellent and clear instructions.
You are very welcome Janae 🙂
I substituted the dark chocolate for dates and they were amazing! My toddlers enjoyed them too. They are so easy to make and I’ll be making them many more times. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Hi Emma! I am so happy that this recipe is enjoyed by you and your toddlers!
These are delicious, moist and healthy! Will be making them again!
Awesome!
Can I use coconut flour for this recipe? I’ve been loving the use of coconut flour lol.
Sorry but no.
you might be able to, but it would take some adapting. You may find needing less coconut flour since it absorbs liquid. You would need to experiment with measurements. Maybe try googling for similar recipes but using coconut flour instead.
I always stick with the original recipe first and then play around.
I found these a bit bitter I think I would use half whole wheat and half white flour next time or not as dark of a chocolate- maybe mini chips to spread the joy more! Overall they were good!
I made this but opted to leave out the chocolate. Still turned out great!!
Definitely, especially since it’s dark chocolate – you don’t lose much sweetness. 🙂
These are wonderful, Olena! I stumbled on your site after seeing a banana zucchini muffin recipe elsewhere but so many commenters had issues with the recipe/batter/baking I had to turn to google for another. Yours turned out great! I put to use past-prime blueberries and for some reason had no veg oil (or muffin tins, tossed mine a while back as they were old and rusty, bleh), but they came out just fine with butter in a pyrex dish. I worried about the timing in the pan but the batter fit at about the height of muffins and all was delicious. My 11 month old concurs with blueberry juice all over her face. On to your freezer meals as I’m trying to better balance work and dinner prep to avoid evening meltdowns, lol. Thanks!
Awe, you are so welcome! So happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes! Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to let me know you enjoyed my recipe.
Hello, I’m from Seoul, Korea and lived in Montreal for 8 years for study.
I was looking for healthy recipes for baking and finally I found your recipes!!
I made this muffins, turned out so great, exactly what I wanted!!
Thank you for sharing your recipes and I’ll try more of yours.