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How To Make Zucchini Muffins That Double As Cupcakes: Get The Recipe NOW!

How To Make Zucchini Muffins That Double As Cupcakes: Get The Recipe NOW!
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It is that time of year again when you hear a knock on the door. You answer it only to find that one of your well-meaning neighbors has abandoned yet another freakishly large zucchini on your doorstep. But your can-do attitude and culinary creativity will not be daunted! This recipe for zucchini muffins will help you put that Cucurbita pepo to good use. I love to slather these muffins with butter and enjoy them just like that, but alternatively, you can use my keto cream cheese frosting recipe, and presto chango – you have a cupcake! Who doesn’t enjoy a recipe that converts a vegetable into a cupcake?

Zucchini muffins with cream cheese frosting on a copper-colored wire rack.
Zucchini Cupcakes On Wire Rack from www.yourketokitchen.com

Why You Will Love This Recipe

  • As stated previously, vegetables that turn into cupcakes, are pretty cool right?!
  • 2 recipes in 1! It is a muffin AND a cupcake!
  • Cozy fall flavors! Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla give this “mupcake” a warm fall flavor profile.
  • Family Friendly! These treats are perfect for an after-school snack, and the kids won’t even know you are sneaking veggies into their diet!
Frosting in Our Hair Don’t Care!

What You Will Need To Make These Muffins/Cupcakes

  • Mixing bowls
  • Stand mixer or electric handheld mixer (I couldn’t live without my KitchenAid Stand Mixer!)
  • Measuring cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Stirring spoon and spatula
  • Muffin liners (optional for ease of removal)
  • Muffin tin
  • Cheese grater
  • Piping bag and frosting tip (optional for pretty frosting!)
Ingredients for making zucchini muffins gathered together on a kitchen table.
Zucchini Muffin Ingredients from www.yourketokitchen.com

Making The Muffins

I developed this recipe using my blend of keto-friendly flour alternatives that produce the BEST texture for low-carb baking! I will include that recipe below. It involves combining lupin flour, almond flour, coconut flour, vital wheat gluten, oat fiber, and xanthan gum. To read more about this flour blend and get another awesome fall-inspired recipe check out my Keto Pumpkin Muffins!

If you are not ready to try out this amazing, game-changing flour blend just yet for whatever reason, this recipe can be made using just almond flour and coconut flour with some xanthan gum. I have used this more common blend of flour alternatives with great success! These Keto Cinnamon Sugar Muffins use a blend of these two flours, and they will knock your socks off! For the exact ratio of Almond to coconut flour to use for these zucchini muffins please see the recipe notes in the recipe card below.

Pro Tip! Make sure to allow your zucchini time to sweat (15 minutes will probably suffice) after you grate it. Then blot the grated zucchini with a paper towel or a lint free dish towel. This important step will help you avoid soggy muffins. Nobody likes soggy muffins! Or, perhaps I am being presumptuous and informing that statement to much with my own opinion. If you prefer soggy muffins skip this step 😁

I used monk fruit sweetener in this recipe. I have started to use Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener almost exclusively. It has no bitter aftertaste and none of the strange cooling sensation of other keto-friendly sweeteners that I have tried. For this recipe, if you are making frosting, you will need granulated, brown, and powdered monk fruit. These are GREAT to have in your pantry! I use them for baked goods, to make jams, salad dressings, marinades, you name it.

These zucchini muffins are perfect just as they are slathered with a pad of butter! But if you want to dress them up with a gorgeous flourish of cream cheese frosting, then they will transform right before your eyes into the cutest dang cupcake you ever did see! I have affectionately termed them “mupcakes”, and I am hoping this word takes hold!

My Keto Lupin Flour Blend

yourketokitchen84@gmail.com
This blend of flours produces the most bread-like texture, crumb, and chew of any low-carb flour substitute I have used to date!
5 from 7 votes
Prep Time 2 mins
Total Time 2 mins
Course pantry
Cuisine universal
Servings 1
Calories 458 kcal

Equipment

  • measuring cups
  • measuring spoons

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup plus 2 tbsp of lupin flour
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tbsp of almond flour
  • 1 tsp coconut flour
  • 2 tsp oat fiber
  • ½ tbsp vital wheat gluten
  • ¼ tsp xanthan gum
  • ¼ tsp erythritol

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients in a container with a lid and whisk to make sure everything is distributed evenly. Store in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

Notes

Nutrition Information for 1 cup of Lupin Flour Blend:
Calories: 458
Fat: 27.5g
NC: 5.1g 
Protein: 27g 
Keyword flour, flour blend, keto flour blend, low-carb flour blend
Zucchini Muffin Recipe
Zucchini Muffin with cream cheese frosting

Zucchini Muffins With Cream Cheese Frosting

yourketokitchen84@gmail.com
These muffins with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla have a cozy fall-inspired flavor profile. You can eat them with butter and jam, or whip up a batch of keto cream cheese frosting and have cupcakes!
5 from 8 votes
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 160 kcal

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer optional

Ingredients
  

Zucchini Muffins

  • cups lupin flour blend (*see recipe notes for alternative) sifted
  • 1 tsp baking powder sifted
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt sifted
  • 2 tsp cinnamon sifted
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg sifted
  • ¾ cup granulated monk fruit sweetener
  • ¼ cup brown monk fruit sweetener
  • ½ cup butter melted
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream
  • 2 whole eggs
  • cups shredded zucchini sweated and blotted

Keto Cream Cheese Frosting

  • ¾ cup powdered monk fruit sweetener
  • 2 tsp butter room temperature
  • 2-3 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • 3-4 tsp heavy cream start with 2 tsp, add more as needed
  • ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions
 

Zucchini Muffins

  • Grate the zucchini and place it in a bowl lined with paper towels or a lint-free kitchen towel. Allow to sit for 15 minutes to release moisture, then blot with a towel before using.
  • Preheat the oven to425° and make sure to remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator if making frosting to allow it to soften. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
  • Sift the lupin flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl.
  • In a separate mixing bowl combine the melted butter and white and brown monk fruit sweeteners with the vanilla and heavy cream. To this mixture, add the eggs one at a time making sure that each egg is fully incorporated.
  • Combine the wet and dry ingredients stirring until they are just incorporated, careful to not overmix.
  • Fold the prepared zucchini into the muffin batter.
  • Divide the batter evenly into the twelve lined muffin cups. Bake at 425° for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350° and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cook time can vary slightly depending on the amount of moisture retained in the zucchini.
  • Cool on a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Keto Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Beat the butter and cream cheese using a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer until smooth.
  • Add the powdered monk fruit and vanilla and mix until it begins to come together.
  • Start by adding 2 teaspoons of heavy cream and mixing. Add more cream until desired consistency is reached. I use between 3 and 4 teaspoons for perfect frosting.
  • Add the prepared frosting to a pastry bag with a frosting tip and frost those pretty babies! Alternatively, smear the frosting on haphazardly with a butter knife. It will taste just as good!
  • Enjoy!

Notes

*If you choose not to use the lupin flour blend you can make this recipe using almond flour, coconut flour, and xanthan gum. Nutrition information for this version is not calculated here. 
  • 1 and 1/4 cups almond flour (sifted)
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour (sifted) 
  • 3/4 tsp xanthan gum (sifted) 
Nutrition Information for 1 muffin with no frosting:  
Calories: 160 
Fat: 13g
Net Carbs: 1.5g
Protein: 5g
Nutrition Information for 1 cupcake with frosting
Calories: 195 
Fat: 17g
Net Carbs: 1.8g
Protein: 6g 
Keyword breakfast, cupcake, cupcakes, keto cupcakes, keto muffins

Let’s Eat!

These muffins are just one of the many ways to use up all of the zucchini that finds its way to you this season! If you have more creative ideas for turning zucchini into seasonal joy head over to the Your Keto Kitchen Facebook group and tell us all about it!

As always, happy snacking!

I receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you.

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12 comments

  1. 5 stars
    Okay, I had to give this five stars because of the cute photo cameo from one of my favorite rising social media influencers!

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