Recipe: Low Sugar Zucchini Muffins That Don't Taste Terrible

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The Truth About Muffins: They’re Cake.

Can we get real about muffins for a second?

We’re all in agreement that muffins are basically cake...right?

I mean if you’ve ever made muffins, you know there’s a significant amount of added sugar in any muffin recipe.

And if you’ve ever had - let’s say - a Costco blueberry muffin (...all 600+ calories of it in 1 muffin!) you know that commercial muffins basically taste like really sweet cake.

Quick Costco anecdote: my friend and colleague chef Dr. Julia Nordgren did an interview with me on Instagram Live @babyledweanteam recently where she was talking about “Writing Your Family’s Food Story”. Julia shared that one of her patients works in the Costco bakery and confirmed that the same batter they use for cake...well, you guessed it...the same batter they use for muffins!

So as much as we all love muffins, let’s call a spade a spade. 

…or a piece of cake a piece of cake.

Muffin Makeover for Babies

While I don’t love the amount of added sugar in typical muffin recipes, I do appreciate muffins as a bite-sized vehicle for trying new foods that babies can easily feed themselves.

In fact, one of my favorite ways to introduce babies to the potentially allergenic protein of tree nuts is to make a low sugar almond flour muffin.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reminds us that we should refrain from added sugars in baby’s food and drinks before 2 years of age. And even after that, it makes good health and nutrition sense to limit added sugars in children’s diets to the greatest extent possible.

I’m all for cake at a birthday party…but I do attest that a high sugar muffin for breakfast is not the smartest way to start your child’s day.

But there are healthier ways to make muffins work, and that’s namely by reducing or eliminating the added sugar, but using a natural source of sweetness to make up for that lack.

My goal was to come up with a good low sugar muffin recipe that babies and the bigger people in my family can enjoy.

Putting Produce to the Test

As I’m writing this we’re in the height of summer and my zucchini stock is on overload. My husband is bringing it home from people at work, neighbors are bringing theirs by. Even my home delivered produce box from FARM FRESH TO YOU had zucchini in it this week.

FARM FRESH TO YOU is a customizable produce box from local farms that arrives on your doorstep every week - or however often you schedule it.

We do the FF2Y Traditional CSA box in size large every week. It’s delicious organic produce that’s in season, and yes you can customize it to leave out foods you don’t want, or add more of what you do (...I just forgot to remove zucchini last week, which is how we ended up with more!)

You can get $15 off your first FARM FRESH TO YOU order with code KATIE7315.

So using all of the zucchini that we had - I tested this recipe 3 different ways, 3 different times. 

All 7 of my kids and I agreed that what follows was the best low sugar zucchini muffin result…and I’m so excited to share it with you.

Low Sugar Zucchini Muffin Recipe

This is a recipe that works for baby-led weaning because it doesn’t have any refined or added sugar and it also does not contain honey. (Babies under age 1 should not have honey. For more info about why to avoid feeding babies honey, read my blog post “What’s the Buzz About Honey and Babies All About?” here.)

In this recipe, a quarter cup of agave syrup is used in place of honey or sugar in the recipe plus the ripened banana for added sweetness. 

You can substitute the flour you use for a gluten free baking flour substitute, whole wheat or regular all-purpose flour. 

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas

• 1 1/2 cup zucchini, peeled, shredded and seeds removed

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/4 cup agave syrup

• 1 cup oatmeal

• 1 cup flour

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray 12-15 muffin tins.

2. In a mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients: bananas, zucchini, eggs, vanilla and agave syrup.

3. In a separate bowl stir to combine the dry ingredients: oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.

5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes or until a fork inserted comes out clean. Cool, serve and enjoy!

Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners

If you’re just getting started with baby-led weaning and want to learn more about giving your baby a safe start to solid foods, check out my free online workshop called “BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS: How to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches!”

Everyone on this free workshop gets a copy of my 100 First Foods list…plus I host a Q&A after the workshop so if you still have questions I’m there for you! Click to check out this week’s workshop times & hope to see you there!