Banana Zucchini Muffins are a great way to use up that last bit of zucchini as we enter into the Fall months. These are really the best Banana Zucchini Muffins ever! While these are the best Banana Zucchini Muffins ever, I also have a Best Zucchini Bread recipe you should try!
Banana Zucchini Muffins
I love the fall season, and there is nothing better than enjoying a cup of coffee or tea with a muffin on a cool, crisp morning. These Banana Zucchini Muffins are extra large in size, which gives you an excuse to enjoy your morning a little longer! Plus, they are so moist and delicious, that you will want to savor it as long as possible! This recipe is similar to my Zucchini Banana Layer Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting (Say that one eight times fast…). You will notice there is no frosting on these muffins-they are perfect as it is. And, they really are pretty simple to make!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Zucchini: You will never know there is zucchini in these muffins, but it adds so much moisture! So, don’t leave it out! If you run out of zucchini (which is hard to do), you can check out my Banana Muffins for another soft, moist muffin.
- Flour: I used all-purpose flour for the muffins. You could experiment with whole wheat or gluten-free flour.
- Cinnamon: For a warm depth of flavor, I added cinnamon to the muffin batter. For a different flavor profile, you could substitute nutmeg, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice.
- Eggs: Out of eggs? No problem! Try the muffins with one of my egg substitutes!
- Vegetable Oil: Adding vegetable oil to the batter keeps the muffins from getting dry. If you don’t have oil, you could use melted butter or try with apple sauce.
- Bananas: The riper the bananas, the better! You need about 1 cup of mashed banana, which was 2 bananas. They add sweetness, moisture, and flavor.
The Secret to Baking with Zucchini
I can’t seem to give up the zucchini season quite yet. They are such a wonderful vegetable to use in baking, and I think more people are finally jumping on the ‘zucchini in baking’ bandwagon.
You would never know there’s zucchini in these muffins if it wasn’t for the green bits. I know some people aren’t anxious to eat desserts with zucchini in it, but this is a must-try. There is no noticeable flavor and it adds something fantastic to the final product. There are a couple of tricks to making the most of your zucchini in your recipe:
- Use the fine side of your grater for smaller-sized shredded zucchini. If you use the larger side, the coarser pieces will have a slightly more noticeable flavor and texture in a finished cake or bread recipe. (Farm kids tend to want that!)
- Some recipes ask that the zucchini is pressed well with a clean towel to soak up excess moisture or to prevent whatever you are baking from getting too soggy. Pay close attention to the recipe that you are making with zucchini as the level of moisture they provide is important.
How To Store Banana Zucchini Muffins
- Room Temperature: To keep muffins fresh, store them at room temperature. I like to store them in a single layer inside a large sealable plastic bag or an airtight container. Some people suggest putting a piece of paper towel at the bottom to soak up any moisture, but this might not be needed if the muffins are already cool. If you use an airtight container, adding a piece of bread can help keep the muffins from getting too moist. Muffins taste best if you eat them within 2-3 days.
- Refrigerator: (Refrigeration, in general, dries out baked goods faster so a typical muffin recipe shouldn’t be refrigerated.) Place in a sealable plastic bag or airtight container and then place into the refrigerator. They should keep for up to 5 days. To reheat, remove from refrigerator pop into the microwave for 10 seconds or just allow muffin to come to room temperature naturally, about 15 minutes.
Freezing & Thawing Zucchini Muffins
To freeze, first, allow the muffins to cool completely. Then, wrap the Banana Zucchini Muffins tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap and place them in a heavy-duty freezer bag. If you prefer not to use foil directly on your muffins, wrap them tightly with parchment paper, then place that into a sealable plastic bag. Be sure to label it with the date.
To thaw muffins: Take them out of the freezer and set them on the counter. Allow them to reach room temperature before you take them out of their packaging. They will re-absorb some of their moisture this way.
More Zucchini Desserts
Banana Zucchini Muffins
Equipment
- Wire rack Like these cooling racks
- Muffin tin I like these nonstick muffin pans
- Mixing bowl I use glass mixing bowls
Ingredients
Banana Zucchini Muffins
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, about 1 ½ medium zucchini
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (218 g) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with liners.
- Gently wrap the shredded zucchini in a paper towel or a clean towel and squeeze out any excess water. Set aside. (I prefer to not peel the green skin off on my zucchini, but you certainly can. If you have a very large zucchini, remove any seeds before the grating.)
- In a large bowl whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, add the mashed bananas, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir well until fully combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini.
- Add ⅓ cup of batter to each cupcake liner.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick is removed with some crumbs, but no wet batter. Tops should be rounded and golden brown.
- Let muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
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What the Test Kitchen had to say about this recipe:
Autumn
These muffins are excellent! The zucchini kept them moist, and the banana added a nice sweetness. The cinnamon flavor was a great touch, making them perfect for breakfast or a snack!
Elizabeth
Wow, just wow! I could actually eat the entire muffin (and not just the top)! They are so moist with the perfect amount of banana flavor.
Bella
These muffins were fantastic. The texture was perfect, thanks to the shredded zucchini, and the banana provided a natural sweetness.
Annabelle
I really enjoyed the banana zucchini muffins. They were sweet and moist. The cinnamon made them taste even better.
Selena
These muffins were so tasty! I loved the banana and zucchini together. They were super soft and delicious! I can't wait to have one with my cup of coffee in the morning.
Fantastic recipe. Thank you very much. I wanted the jumbo muffins so I use paper liners in 6 jumbo cups, baked for 30 minutes and they came out perfect. I used 1/2 of the sugar instead of a whole cup and they were awesome. My wife said they were the best muffins ever. Very much appreciated. I’m definitely coming back to this site for more ideas!
I forgot to rate this recipe. It was amazing. Thank you! I used 1/2 cup of sugar and made 6 jumbo muffins at 350 for 30 minutes. The best ever.
I made jumbo bakery style muffins. Added walnuts and choc chips plus a crunchy sugar topping. Started at 425 for 10 minutes then turned the gear down to 350 for remainder. Delish
Can this recipe be made in a 8×4 pan instead of muffins? Thanks.
https://iambaker.net/banana-zucchini-bread/
Is it 1 cup mashed bananas or 2 cups? in the recipe it says 1 cup but in the information before it says 2 cups.
It’s about 1 cup. 🙂
Substituted unsweetened applesauce for oil. Used paper liners. Good flavor but totally stuck to liner. So much waste.
So you changed the recipe and then didn’t like the results?
No kidding. Completely takes out the oil which acts like anti-stick, then complains it’s a bad recipe. 💀🤣 what a goof
These muffins are Fantastic!! Love the combination of zucchini and banana they are soft easy to make and delicious 😋
These are delicious muffins! Don’t want to offend the recipe creator but I omitted the oil, used 1/2 cup of applesauce and chose not to drain my zucchini to add some liquid back in, but they were still very moist and my family all loved them. I made them mini size for kiddos lunch boxes. Will definitely make them again!
These muffins look great! Just wondering if anyone has tried them without bananas?
Hi Erin! You can use this recipe for muffins:
https://iambaker.net/the-best-zucchini-bread/
If you want to make muffins instead, you can generally convert this recipe as follows:
Yield: A typical zucchini bread recipe will produce approximately 24 muffins. This is based on using a standard muffin pan (12-cup capacity) and filling each cup about 2/3 full.
Baking Time for Muffins:
Muffins usually bake faster than loaves. You should start checking for doneness at about 20-25 minutes, but it could take a bit longer depending on your oven and the size of your muffins. Use a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin to check for doneness; it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Delicious & moist. I used 3 bananas because they needed to be used. I reduced sugar to 3/4 cup, used coconut oil. I added chopped pecans to some and some shredded coconut to a few, loved the toasted coconut tops. I could have cut sugar more, added pecans & coconut to all of them, they were so good! Fun, easy recipe, thank you for sharing Amanda 🙂
Wonderful recipe 😋 I used my silicone muffin top pans and this made 30 of them. I did add 3/4c chopped walnuts and a 1/3c coconut
I also made a frosting with butter,powdered sugar sifted,vanilla, cinnamon and whipping cream😋😋