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These gluten-free zucchini muffins are sweetened with a little maple syrup and are a fun way to incorporate some zucchini into a sweet treat!

Zucchini is often incorporated into savory recipes but can work beautifully in sweet recipes as well! These mini muffins are lightly sweetened with a nice crunch from the nuts and packed with a great serving of oats!

What You’ll Need

Here is what you’ll need to make these gluten-free zucchini muffins:

• Zucchini: The main star of these muffins! I like to shred the zucchini using the smallest hole on my box grater so that there aren’t too many large chunks in the muffins, but feel free to use a larger-sized hole for more texture!
• Oat Flour: I usually make my own oat flour by grinding up rolled oats into a smooth, flour-like texture. Gluten-free rolled oats make these oat bites gluten-free.
• Greek Yogurt: Helps the muffins obtain a fluffy texture.
• Oil: Helps the muffins to be moist in texture. Make sure to use a mild-tasting oil like coconut oil, avocado oil, or extra light-tasting olive oil.
• Egg: Serves as a binder to help hold the muffins together.
• Maple Syrup: The primary source of sweetness for these muffins.
• Cinnamon: Provides an extra warm spice and subtle sweetness.
• Baking Powder: Leavening agent to help the muffins rise.
• Vanilla Extract: For added flavor.
• Chopped Nuts: Optional ingredient for added crunch and texture to the muffins. I used finely chopped pecans, but any type of chopped nuts will work.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Grate the zucchini using a cheese grater. I used the smallest-sized holes on my box grater, but if you prefer larger chunks of zucchini in the muffins, use a larger-sized hole on the grater.
2. Use your hands or a towel to squeeze out as much moisture from the zucchini as possible. You may also place the zucchini over a sieve and use the back of a spoon to press down on it to remove the moisture. Once you remove the moisture, your zucchini mixture will be about half of the amount of how it was with the moisture.
3. Combine the oat flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl until combined.
4. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients (Greek yogurt, oil, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract) until they are well combined.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
6. Add the zucchini and chopped nuts into the bowl and fold them into the batter until incorporated.
7. Scoop out tablespoon-sized portions of batter into a mini muffin pan. You can sprinkle a few pieces of rolled oats on top of the mini muffins.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Allow them to cool completely before serving.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Greek yogurt: You may substitute the Greek yogurt with a dairy-free yogurt alternative, such as coconut milk yogurt.
• Egg: The egg may be replaced with 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce.
• Maple Syrup: The maple syrup may be replaced with equal parts honey (if serving the muffins to little ones over the age of 1). If you prefer to make naturally sweetened muffins, I suggest you try out this recipe for blueberry oatmeal muffin bites which uses bananas as the main sweetener. You can definitely swap out the blueberries for the shredded zucchini!
• Oil: The oil may be replaced with equal parts melted butter.
• Nuts: The nuts are optional and can be omitted, but feel free to replace them with add-ins of your choice! Chocolate chips or blueberries work great in these muffins!

Storage Instructions

Let the muffins cool completely and store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. To freeze, store in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag or container for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply microwave for 20-30 seconds, or until warmed through!

Recipe Notes

• This recipe makes 24 mini zucchini muffins. You may make regular-sized oat bites by adding a few more minutes to the total bake time.
• I love to use a silicone mini muffin pan for baking these mini muffins as they pop out easily without sticking. If using a regular mini muffin pan, be sure to coat it with cooking spray beforehand. 
• I love using this nutribullet blender to blend rolled oats into a batter to make my own oat flour!
• Make sure to use a mild-tasting oil like extra light-tasting olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. I do not recommend using normal olive oil in this recipe as the strong taste may overpower the muffins.

Here are some other zucchini-based recipes you may like!

• Zucchini Pizza Bites
• Zucchini Fries
• Zucchini Carrot Tots