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Want something healthy for breakfast, that is satisfying and wholesome and also really delicious? These Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffins, made with whole wheat and golden raisins, are the perfect option!
*This post has been updated from 2013
Remember a few weeks ago when my son was asking me to make him some muffins, and I was too, well, LAZY? I made him cranberry pancakes instead and it satisfied him, but darn it if he wasn’t still asking for muffins.
Recently my five year old daughter was needed to increase her fiber intake. Ahem. So I decided to make some muffins, and to make them super healthy. I thought they would hate them but they LOVED them! They each had two for breakfast and asked for them the next day. (Despite my daughter catching me dumping shredded carrot in the bowl – “Mom, are those CARROTS???”).
Tips for making the best Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffins:
- Spray the pan generously with nonstick cooking spray. This is my preference over using paper liners because the liners have a tendency to stick sometimes and you can lose a precious raisin or two.
- Squeeze the liquid out of the carrots and zucchini. You want them to be moist, but not mushy. Take a clean flour sack towel or several paper towels stacked together, and wrap the shredded veggies in it. Twist the ends until tightly wrapped, then gently squeeze. This is best done over a bowl to catch the liquid.
- Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately. The wet ingredients can be mixed as long as you like and it won’t affect the muffins. Once the dry and wet ingredients mix though, the gluten is activated and over-mixing can cause a very dense muffin. These muffins are already pretty dense with the oatmeal and the whole wheat, so you want to keep this in mind when mixing.
- Fill the muffin cups about ¾ of the way full. Did you know, an ice cream scoop is the perfect size for filling muffin cups? Use an ice cream scoop for muffins and cupcakes and they will be even in size every time!
Interestingly enough, my kids really enjoyed these muffins. They are tender and moist, and hearty enough for a quick stand-alone breakfast. Between the oats and whole wheat and the raisins, there is tons of fiber and lots of vitamins from the carrots and zucchini, which also happen to keep these muffins super moist.
Here are some more delicious muffin recipes to try:
And zucchini fans will love these delicious zucchini recipes:
Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
- 3/4 cup oil
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 3/4 cup golden raisins optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners, or spray generously with nonstick cooking spray.
- Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the zucchini and carrots. We want moist, not mushy.
- Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and oil. Stir in grated zucchini and carrots.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Fill muffin cups about ¾ full and bake for approx. 20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean, and tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Coll completely in the muffin pans and serve.Â
Notes
Nutrition
Replaced the oil with 3/4 apple sauce and put light brown sugar. Turned out delish!
Do I need to squeeze the zucchini to get the liquid out first?
Yes 🙂
This would be helpful to add to the recipe directions. I was wondering the same thing, as I don’t bake with zucchini pretty much ever. Glad I went through the comments. I think I’ll try subbing some oat flour for the whole wheat. Can’t wait to give it a try!
Duh, omg. I didn’t even see the directions because it didn’t load properly for some reason. Sorry about that!
is the batter really dry and dense? not sure if I should add some apples sauce or yogurt??
It is somewhat dense because of the wheat flour and the oats. But if you follow the recipe they should be fine. 🙂
I made these today and they are DELICIOUS! I tweaked it a little… used coconut oil for the oil, white whole wheat instead of plain whole wheat flour, and added cardamom and toasted pecans to the rest of the ingredients. Plus I sprinkled some sparkling sugar on the tops – amazing! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Actually the measurements are correct as stated – 1 and 1/2 cups of each. Sorry if you felt it was dry, but I’ve had this recipe several times and it always comes out perfect.
I was looking for a way to use leftover zucchini when I found this recipe. I had all of the ingredients on hand. I followed the recipe as written with the exception of substituting unsweetened applesauce for oil. They turned out great! I considered decreasing the amount of sugar, but am glad that I didn’t. They were not overly sweet. Mine were not incredibly moist (maybe due to my substitution) but I liked consistency. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of muffins this recipe made. I had enough batter to make 24 regular-sized muffins and 12 mini muffins. I love having muffins in the freezer to pull out as needed so most of these will be frozen for use at a later time. I will likely make these again in the future. Thanks for the recipe!
Applesauce is a great substitution!
any idea what the weight watchers point plus value is? I could figure it if you have the nutritional value. Great muffins, wanted a recipe for all of the zucchini I have. Will definitely make them again regardless of point value. Thanks for the recipe!
Sorry, as I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not comfortable giving out nutritional information. There are however lots of online calculators you could use. Good luck!
I’ve tried making these twice & twice they’ve turned out poorly. The texture is really dense & appealing, they didn’t rise at all either. Perhaps too much flour? I see some other people have added apple sauce to the batter, maybe that would have saved them. I dunno… My daughter does enjoy them, but I don’t. :/
Sorry to hear they didn’t work out for you. They’ve always come out great for us.
For how many muffins is this recipe?
It makes about a dozen.
Just made these, and mine turned out heavy and dense. Any chance there should be some baking soda?
Hi Lindsay! The baking powder as called for in the recipe is the leavening agent, replacing the need for baking soda. Sorry they didn’t turn out for you, but I hope you’ll give them another chance!
I sure will try again, I may have over mixed them. My husband loves them ☺
I was expecting these to taste healthy, but honestly they just taste delicious!! I’d never know there were hidden veggies in them if I didn’t make them myself 🙂
My three “helpers” and I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, but they turned out fabulous! We used whole wheat and almond flours, coconut oil and apple sauce instead of veg oil and sugar, unmeasured amounts of ground flax, hemp & chia seeds, and accidentally added tablespoons of cinnamon instead of teaspoons. We baked them as mini muffins for 11 minutes. P.S, my kids always prefer to eat muffins frozen; just freeze them on the cooking rack so they don’t stick together, then transfer to a freezer ziplock for future healthy snacks!
is the recipe still available for the zucchini carrot muffins? Doesn’t seem like the link is available to the actual recipe. Thanks!
Thanks for your message. We are working on some technical issues, but I am seeing the recipe when I click on the post. Please clear your cache on your internet browser and try again. Thanks!
My famiily and I absolutely love these muffins. I’ve made them quite a few times. I have the recipe pinned to my pintrest, However I cannot access the recipe anymore. It only shows the picture and then suggestions for other recipes I might like. I even went straight to your website and cannot find the recipe anywhere? am I missing something, How can I access the recipe??
Thanks for your message. We are working on some technical issues, but I am seeing the recipe when I click on the post. Please clear your cache on your internet browser and try again. Thanks!
I love these muffins, but the recipe is missing. Please help!
Thanks for your message. We are working on some technical issues, but I am seeing the recipe when I click on the post. Please clear your cache on your internet browser and try again. Thanks!
These would definitely encourage me to eat breakfast in the morning (if it weren’t already my favorite meal of the day).
I’ve made these 3 times now. My whole family loves them. I adjusted the sugar to 1 cup and I don’t like to use oil so I substituted 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce. I also added 4 Tablespoons of flax seed. My recipe made 21 muffins and they are delicious!
Out of curiosity. Why all purpose flour and whole wheat flour?
It’s a flavor preference. My kids won’t eat them if they are all whole wheat, and I figure some is better than none. 🙂
Have you tried white whole wheat flour from King Arthur? It’s a good substitute for most things…not biscuits, though.
are these moist enough for a baby to eat? i found some muffins i made the tops is crispy.
You’d have to make the judgement call on that one.
thanks for the reply. Was going to make either way as I know I would lov’em too.
I made these today with 3 chia eggs and .25 cup applesauce. Also reduced oil to .5 cup and did another .25 cup applesauce to replace the rest. It worked great and my family loves them. The chia seeds give it a little crunch, and my egg/dairy allergic son can have them this way, too. I spread in a pan and cut into bars, worked well that way.