Sweet, moist and perfectly spiced, these sweet potato zucchini muffins are the perfect way to use up those extra vegetables when you're looking for something a little sweet. I love these as muffins, but you can also bake this up into a loaf or snack cake. Add some chocolate or chopped nuts for a little extra fun!
Sweet potato zucchini muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 muffins 1x
- Category: Baked Goods
- Method: Oven
Description
Sweet, moist and perfectly spiced, these sweet potato zucchini muffins are the perfect way to use up those extra vegetables when you're looking for something a little sweet. I love these as muffins, but you can also bake this up into a loaf or snack cake. Add some chocolate or chopped nuts for a little extra fun!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260 grams) flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (205 grams) brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams) sugar
- ¾ cup (138 grams or 6oz) vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1.5 cups (190 grams or 7oz) shredded zucchini
- 1.5 cups ( 165 grams or 7oz) shredded sweet potato (peeled)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Brush the top of a muffin tin with a little vegetable oil and then add muffin cup liners (the oil keeps the baked muffin tops from sticking!).
- Mix 2 cups (260 grams) flour, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground allspice and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk 1 cup (205 grams) brown sugar and ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar together to combine. Mix to ensure there are no clumps.
- Add ¾ cup (138 grams) vegetable oil, 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla and whisk until everything is mixed and fully incorporated.
- Add 1.5 cups (190 grams) shredded zucchini and 1.5 cups (165 grams) sweet potato and stir to combine.
- Add dry ingredients and fold in until just mixed in. If using any mix-ins, add those in now as well!
- Divide batter among lined muffin tins, filling up to the top. I generally get exactly 12 muffins out of this, but you might get a few more (depending on size of zucchini and sweet potato - see note below)
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool before enjoying.
- Leftover muffins will stay out for 1-2 days (covered). After that I suggest keeping them in the fridge.
Notes
- This recipe is pretty forgiving when it comes to the amount of zucchini and sweet potato. I generally use 1 large zucchini and 1 medium-sized sweet potato - when shredded both can vary between 1-2 cups. Don't worry if you have a little less or more than what it's in the ingredient list above!
- To make this into a loaf, pour batter in a 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
- If the amount of oil scares you, you can cut down on it and make up the rest with applesauce. I've also done ½ coconut oil, ½ vegetable oil thing and it works.
- If you'd like to try making this vegan, replace the eggs with flax eggs (for 3 eggs, mix 3 tablespoons flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons water, let sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken). You won't notice the difference at all!
- Good options for mix-ins: Chocolate chips/chunks, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, raisins/dried fruit.
I know it can be annoying when food bloggers keep putting vegetables in what is supposed to be a fun baked good. But these sweet potato zucchini muffins are not annoying. I need you to trust me on this one.
This is one of those recipes I can make with my eyes closed - that's how long I've been making these muffins! They evolved from this Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread recipe I first started making YEARS ago, and are now a total late-Summer/Fall staple for me.
And since I live in Texas, that means I'm almost always making this very Fall-like recipe when it's 100 degrees out. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?!
The 411 on these muffins
Sweet, spicy (in that baked goods kind of way) and moist, these sweet potato and zucchini muffins are just about perfect. And fun fact: This recipe will have you pulling out spices you maybe haven't touched since last Thanksgiving. Or if you're me it will have you buying a third bottle of ground cloves because you forgot to check before going to the grocery story AGAIN.
I am who I am.
There's a decent amount of oil and sugar here, so I'm not going to lie and say these are healthy muffins. But also, hello?! Vegetables? HEALTH. Honestly, if you are looking for healthy sweet potato zucchini muffins (or even healthy sweet potato muffins OR healthy zucchini muffins - we're flexible!), you can
If I want to have these around for a quick breakfast or something, I'll keep them plain. They are great as-is, or you can warm them up and spread a little bit of butter on them. YUM.
For something a little more dessert-like, throw some chocolate chunks in there! The chocolate is so good with the sweet potato flavor and warm spices.
What you'll need
Zucchini: I find that 1 large zucchini works perfectly for these muffins. You can either shred them on the large holes of a box grater or by using the shredding blade on your food processor. If it's important to you, throw the shredded zucchini in a large kitchen towel and squeeze some of the liquid out. But please know I never do that with these muffins, and I still think they are perfect.
Sweet potato: Just like the zucchini, you can either grate these or shred in the food processor. Peel the sweet potato before doing either though! I generally find 1 medium-sized potato is great. With both vegetables, don't worry too much about hitting the exact amount listed above - this recipe is super flexible!
Brown sugar: I like the caramel-y flavor of brown sugar in these muffins so I go heavier on the brown sugar than white here.
Sugar: Of course, you need some good ol' white granulated sugar for structure.
Eggs: Very important binding ingredient. For a vegan version, try using a flax egg (see notes above!).
Vegetable oil: I've tried this recipe with different oils and butter, and always go back to vegetable oil. It's neutral so doesn't take away from the rest of the flavors, and it creates a perfectly tender, moist crumb. I know it's not the healthiest, but I say go for it! If it really bothers you, you can replace some of the vegetable oil with coconut oil. You can also use some applesauce if you're into that (I would do ½ cup oil + ¼ cup applesauce).
Vanilla: Basic, but necessary.
Flour: I've mostly tried these muffins with all purpose flour, but a 1:1 gluten-free blend works as well. I haven't tried with almond flour (I'm allergic) so I can't say for sure how that will work. Sorry!! 🙁
Spices: The best part! I love how warm and cozy these muffins taste, and that is all thanks to the ground spices. Feel free to mix and match as you please, but don't skimp! You want those cinnamon and nutmeg flavors to really come through.
Optional mix-ins: The sky's the limit, but for starters try some chocolate chunks/chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit or coconut!
How to make sweet potato zucchini muffins
Let's bake!
Mix up your dry ingredients
Per usual, these muffins start by mixing up your flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk and set aside.
Get the wet ingredients
In another bowl, whisk together both sugars until any clumps are gone. Then add your eggs, oil and vanilla. Whisk really well to combine.
Add the zucchini and sweet potato
Get those vegetables in with the wet ingredients and mix away! Once the dry ingredients are in you don't want to overmix, so get all your aggressive whisking done now.
Mix wet + dry
Add your dry mix into the wet and fold to just combine. Over mixing can result in tough muffins, so go until the flour is just incorporated. If you want to add in any mix-ins, you can do that now as well.
Bake!
To keep the tops from sticking to the pan, brush the top of your muffin tin with a little extra vegetable oil. Then throw in some muffin liners and fill them up with your batter. You can fill them all the way up - they'll rise a bit, but you'll get some nice muffin tops! I normally get exactly 12 muffins with this recipe, but if I have a little more or less zucchini and/or sweet potato sometimes that number varies.
Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out nice and clean. Let muffins cool for at least 20 minutes before digging in.
Shake things up!
As mentioned, you can add in some chocolate, nuts, etc. to switch these up.
If muffins aren't your thing, you can also bake this a quick bread by baking it in a loaf pan. You'll still bake them at 350, but for closer to an hour.
For another fun spin, try baking the batter in a smaller cake pan (about 30 minutes or so - keep a toothpick, cake tester or small knife handy for checking!). Once cooled, top with your favorite cream cheese frosting (I am quite loyal to this one from Sally's Baking Addiction) for a sweet, snack cake!
If frosting isn't your thing (WHO ARE YOU?!), I also love spreading a little butter on these muffins when they are warm. Regular ol' butter is great, but a spiced butter like this one I make with my olive oil pumpkin bread is really special.
You can also make this a one vegetable bake by just using zucchini or just sweet potato instead of both. In either case, I suggest aiming for about 2 cups of shredded. That's generally 1 large sweet potato, or 2-3 small/medium zucchini.
However you make them, enjoy!
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