Great for breakfast or a power snack, these yummy vegan, protein-packed, carrot zucchini muffins pack a good amount of nutrients and are one of my favourite ways to start off the day.
I came up with this recipe recently, after an illness took out my son’s appetite completely for several weeks. They are more or less an “everything but the kitchen sink” kind of muffin and are the result of my adapting my mother’s zucchini bread recipe in an attempt to cram in as much nutrition as possible into the one food my son consistently agreed to eat for 2 weeks.
So, what makes these muffins to pack as much nutrition as possible? My “go-to” health boosts are – raw shelled hemp seeds, freshly ground flax seed, almond butter (I’ll be posting soon on how you can easily make this yourself), and unflavoured pea protein.
I cannot put words to how happy it makes my son that there are peas and carrots and zucchini hiding in his muffin!
I’m still trying to work out the proportions to be able to share a 12-muffin recipe, but I figured I’d go ahead and share the 14-16 muffin version while I work on that, so be sure to have a second pan (or a small half loaf pan) available to use up the extra batter.
This is a two bowl recipe (mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, and then fold dry into wet), but the last couple of times I’ve been pressed for time and made it a one bowl recipe and it turned out more than fine.
It was perfect. If you’re going to go this route, I suggest you first mix all your wet ingredients and health boost ingredients, per the instructions. Then add your flour and use a spoon to make a small indent in the middle of the flour. Add your baking soda and baking powder here (simulating a second bowl), and then mix your dry ingredients gently at the top of the bowl before mixing them down into the wet mixture waiting at the bottom, and continue as usual.
I’ve had no problem baking these split over two racks in my oven, though you’ll want to see how your oven handles this and adjust the bake times accordingly.
Hope you enjoy this recipe. Would love to hear what kinds of adaptations you come up with to make them your own!
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- ½ cup spelt flour (can sub with whole wheat)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup grated zucchini (~1 medium zucchini)
- ½ cup grated carrot (~1 medium carrots)
- 1 cup cane sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup mashed avocado (you can substitue any lightly flavoured oil)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- The Health Boost:
- 2 Tbsp almond butter
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
- ¼ cup shelled hemp seeds
- 1 heaping scoop (~30g) protein powder (I use unflavoured Pea Protein)
- Line a muffin tray with paper liners (or lightly grease) and set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
- Mix the avocado (or oil), applesauce, sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl.
- Add your grated vegetables and fold together evenly.
- Add your health boost ingredients to the mixture and stir well.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl and stir lightly to combine them before mixing them down into the wet ingredients (alternatively mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before folding into the wet ingredients).
- Mix evenly until all of the dry ingredients have been absorbed into the wet mixture. Pay careful attention to ingredients that have fallen to the bottom of the bowl, and don't mix more than necessary.
- Spoon the batter into a lined or lightly greased muffin tray.
- Bake for 18-25 minutes, until the tops lightly brown and pressing your finger lightly into the muffin it springs back to form.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes before storing, or enjoy warm.
Welcome!
I’ve made these a couple times and they’re a big hit! Very filling and perfect with a cup of coffee. 🙂 Most importantly my daughter loves them and I was in a bind when I found out she was not only allergic to dairy and eggs but corn too. This recipe was easy to adapt (arrowroot instead of baking powder) and is so easy to make since I just chop the veggies and wet ingredients up in my ninja then add to the dry ingredients. I’ve shared it with a few friends looking for hearty sweet(ish) treats for their kids lunches!
Beth, was such a happy coincidence to find your note waiting for me this morning when I opened my computer while doing the prep to make these muffins! Glad you and your daughter enjoyed them as much as we do. And great point about the arrowroot substitute. I’ll add that to the recipe notes!