Zucchini Pumpkin Muffins are flavorful, moist, and slightly sweet. They're the perfect little treat on a late summer or early fall morning. These muffins are packed with shredded zucchini and pumpkin puree, and they're finished off with a dash of cinnamon.
Zucchini Pumpkin Muffins are the perfect little treat to make when summer is winding down and the anticipation of fall is picking up! These muffins will help you transition from one season to the next, with their blend of summer and fall flavors.
I love making muffins like this for my family. They make for a quick breakfast, a lunchbox treat, and an easy after-school snack. They're sweet without being too sweet, and they include a small serving of vegetables in every bite. They're a win-win!
I've really been leaning into zucchini season this summer with my Creamy Zucchini Soup, Air Fryer Zucchini, and Zucchini Scramble. It's time to start transitioning to fall though, and these zucchini pumpkin muffins are the perfect way to do it!
Another one of my favorite fall treats to make are my Pumpkin Spice No Bake Cookies. They're absolutely delightful and you need to make them too!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Shredded zucchini and pumpkin muffins cook way faster than a loaf of pumpkin zucchini bread and they're already portioned out!
- You don't need an electric mixer for this recipe! A simple mixing spoon or a whisk is all you need!
- These muffins are the perfect light breakfast, afternoon snack, or late-night sweet treat.
- This recipe calls for common ingredients that are in most kitchens, including canned pumpkin puree.
- It only takes about 10 minutes to prep this recipe before they go into the oven!
Ingredients
Zucchini: You'll need a small to medium-sized zucchini for this recipe. One, single zucchini will actually produce quite a bit of shredded zucchini, so you'll likely need a smaller zucchini than you think! The zucchini is going to add some delicious moisture to the muffin batter.
Pumpkin puree: Another moisture-adding ingredient is pumpkin puree. I use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix! You can use fresh puree if you have it!
All-purpose flour: You don't need any fancy flour to make this simple muffin recipe. Regular, white, all-purpose flour does the job.
Sugar: I use a combination of light brown sugar and cane sugar to give a little bit of sweetness to the muffins.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk is fermented milk that has a slight tang/tart flavor and is thicker than regular milk. When mixed with baking soda, buttermilk produces a gas that helps make the muffins rise.
Butter: You'll need one stick of butter, melted, for this muffin recipe. You can use either salted or unsalted butter.
Additional ingredients: You'll also need baking soda, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
A detailed ingredient list can be found in the recipe card below.
Equipment needed
- 12-cup muffin tin
- Box grater
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons
How to make Zucchini Pumpkin Muffins
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line your muffin tin with muffin liners. Shred the zucchini and squeeze some of the moisture out using paper towels. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave.
Step 2: Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Step 3: Combine the brown sugar, cane sugar, melted butter, pumpkin puree, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until the ingredients are smooth and fully combined.
Step 4: Add the shredded zucchini to your bowl of liquid ingredients. Mix to combine.
Step 5: Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I like to pour the dry ingredients in a little at a time, mix, and then add more. Mix the dry ingredients in until they are fully incorporated into the wet ingredients and no streaks of flour remain. Your batter will be thick and moist.
Step 6: Using a large spoon, scoop the batter into your muffin cups. You can fill the muffin cups to within a few centimeters from the top of the liners. This recipe makes about 18 muffins or 1 ½ dozen.
Step 7: Bake the muffins for 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. When finished remove the muffin tin from the oven and carefully transfer the muffins to a cooling rack. Let cool for about 15 minutes before eating. Enjoy!
Variations
Chocolate chips: Add some mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips!
Shredded coconut: Try adding a little bit of shredded coconut for added texture and flavor.
Nuts: Walnuts are always a yummy addition to zucchini muffins.
Toppings: Toppings might just be my favorite way to add variety to muffins! You could add a streusel topping, plain cream cheese, powdered sugar icing, cream cheese frosting, or a simple slathering of butter.
Expert tips
- When grating your zucchini, just use a box grater. It only takes about a minute to shred the zucchini, so don't bother digging out your food processor!
- Don't skip the step where you squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini! Zucchini holds a ton of moisture which will mess up the recipe if you don't squeeze some of it out. You don't need to go crazy. Just a quick squeeze through a few paper towels will do the trick.
- Muffin liners are a must! They make cleanup so much easier and allow you to easily pop your muffins out of the tin and make another batch immediately.
- Have you ever tried to remove a muffin liner when the muffin is fresh out of the oven? If you have, then you know that the muffin will stick to the liner. If you want your muffin liner to easily peel off, all you have to do is wait for your pumpkin zucchini muffins to cool down fully.
Storage, Freezing, and reheating
How to store: The easiest way to store leftover muffins is right on your counter in a sealed, zip-top, plastic bag, or air-tight container. You can store them this way for 2-3 days. If your house is extra warm or humid, then you might want to store them in the refrigerator. You can also store leftover muffins in a plastic muffin storage container.
How to freeze: These muffins freeze easily in a plastic zip-top freezer bag. Wait for the muffins to fully cool, remove the muffin liners and then transfer them to a freezer bag.
How to reheat: When you want to thaw a muffin to enjoy with your breakfast, simply wrap the frozen muffin in a paper towel and then pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Print📖 Recipe
Zucchini Pumpkin Muffins
Zucchini Pumpkin Muffins are flavorful, moist and slightly sweet. They're the perfect little treat on a late summer or fall morning. These muffins are packed with shredded zucchini and pumpkin puree, and they're finished off with a dash of cinnamon.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Total Time: 33 minutes
- Yield: 18 muffins 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized zucchini (1 cup shredded)
- 1 stick butter
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cups buttermilk
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave in a microwave safe dish.
- Using a box grater, shred your zucchini until you have 1 cup of shredded zucchini. Squeeze excess moisture out of the shredded zucchini using a few paper towels. Simply wrap your shredded zucchini in paper towels and give it a good squeeze over the sink.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, cane sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Gently fold the shredded zucchini into the wet ingredients.
- Carefully pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Pour about ¼ of the flour mixture in, mix until no flour streaks remain, and repeat until all of the flour has been incorporated into the wet ingredients.
- Using a large spoon, fill your muffin cups with the zucchini pumpkin muffin batter. You can fill your cups to within a few centimeters from the top of the muffin liners. Transfer your muffins to the preheated oven. Bake for 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. This recipe makes 18 muffins.
- When the muffins are done baking, remove them from the oven, carefully remove each muffin from the muffin tin, and let cool for about 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes 18 muffins. You'll need to repeat your baking process in order to use up all of the batter. The cooking time reflected in this recipe card is for your first full batch of muffins.
Keywords: zucchini pumpkin muffins, pumpkin zucchini muffins
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Yvette Garnsey
So yummy! Super moist. I made a second batch for my daughter’s family! Ever recipe I’ve tried on this site has been excellent! Thank you Katie!
★★★★★
Katie
I'm so happy you liked them! 🙂