On Sunday I wandered up and down the aisles of the grocery store wondering what kind of cupcakes to make for my son to take to school. Then it struck me. I could use my delicious zucchini bread recipe and add cream cheese icing to the top for a more interesting and healthier option than plain old vanilla or chocolate cupcakes. I asked the twitterverse and they agreed. Many of you asked for the recipe, so here it is!
Zucchini Bread? Zucchini Muffins? Zucchini Cupcakes?
This recipe is very versatile! You can make:
- 2 loaves of zucchini bread
- 1 loaf of zucchini bread and 12 regular sized muffins/cupcakes
- 1 loaf of zucchini bread and 24 mini muffins/cupcakes
- 24 regular sized muffins
- 48 mini muffins
- Or some other combination thereof!
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1 cup chocolate chips (optional and you can also do less – this amount makes for very chocolaty bread – we use dark chocolate chips)
Directions
- Grease and flour loaf pans or muffin tins (or use parchment paper/muffin cups)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- Sift flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon together in a medium sized bowl.
- Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.
- Add dry ingredients to the mixture and beat well.
- Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips (if using) until well combined.
- Pour batter into prepared bans.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes for loaf or about 20 minutes for muffins, until tester inserted into the centre comes out clean (I find the time really varies depending on how full I make the pans, so that tester really is key!)
- Remove bread/muffins from the pan and completely cool.
- If you are making cupcakes, let them cool completely (ideally overnight) and then add cream cheese icing to the top.
Enjoy!
This recipe is adapted from Mom’s Zucchini Bread. If you go to that recipe, it has the nutritional info. This one should be a bit healthier on the nutrition scale since I replaced half of the oil with applesauce and half of the white flour with whole wheat flour.
P.S. – I am not a skilled food photographer. If any of you make this and have a great photo of it, I’d love to add it to the post and would be happy to give you credit.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
yum! i just froze a bunch of zucchini and will have to try this out.
chk out my post today for zucchini chocolate chip cookies, brownies and orzo. 
Double yum! I do not bake much, but this is inspiring. I’m sure many other moms will beat me to the baking punch, otherwise I would have been glad to take a photo!
What a GREAT alternative to sugary cupcakes–thanks! I’ll certainly be adding this to my must-bake list! xoxo
zucchini
This is different from the one I use! Same amount of flour, sugar, salt, and zucchini, but different amounts of egg, oil (if you’re using the applesauce as oil), baking powder (and mine includes baking soda as well), and cinnamon. Oh, and mine has nutmeg. I wonder what the difference in end product is; I’ll have to try this some time! My recipe is posting tomorrow. Check it out!
Ok, seeing as I don’t bake, this recipe was a total gamble for me – I’ll try anything to get my kids to eat more veggies. It’s in the oven now and it smells good so I’m hoping it tastes good also. I stood in my kitchen pondering for about 10 minutes and reading / rereading the recipe as to where and how I add the apple sauce…. apparently it’s listed in the ingredients but there is no direction as to where / when to add it… could someone clarify this for me?
Thanks!
LJ:
Sorry! I just updated the post. The applesauce goes in with the oil and other wet ingredients. But even if you added it right at the end, it should still work out fine. Hope you’re enjoying some yummy zucchini bread now!
Thanks for posting this recipe, it sounds delicious. My toddler loves muffins/bread so I’m definitely going to try this. Do you have a good cream cheese icing recipe too? I can use the one I make for carrot cake or I guess I could just leave it off.
I’ve made this recipe twice now and they are great! Thanks for the recipe. I took out another 1/2 cup of white flour and added wheat germ and oat bran instead. You could do even more depending on what texture you like. I agree they are super chocolatey! especially when they are still warm
I made this recipe this morning with some modifications and thought I would share them since it was so delicious!!
2 cups spelt flour
1 cup flax seed meal
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 applesauce
1 cup zucchini
1 cup carrots
I also added a little bit of honey and chia seeds. I try to find healthy ways to fit in more healthy stuff for my 2 year old daughter. Especially since she has become so picky. I am excited to see what she thinks of these when nap time is over. Thanks for the GREAT recipe!
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