The Easiest One-Bowl Zucchini Muffins You'll Ever Make

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Here's How To Make Them In One Bowl Without A Mixer

You'll love making these easy zucchini muffins because they're wonderfully unfussy. Over the years, I've discovered a few little kitchen shortcuts that save dishes and time while still turning out tall, tender, delicious muffins every time.

If that trick means fewer dishes to wash, it is definitely a good thing. When a recipe begins with "in one bowl" and then says "in another bowl," I start looking for shortcuts.

Most muffin recipes tell you to whisk the dry ingredients together first so the baking powder, salt, and spices are evenly distributed. That's good advice, but for simple quick breads like these zucchini muffins, there's an easier way that saves a bowl without sacrificing great results.

Delicious Easy Zucchini Muffins Start With Great Zucchini

Zucchini contributes to the wonderful texture and yummy moistness of these delicious muffins without adding its own flavor.

Choose nice, firm, unblemished zucchini for your muffins. Young zucchini have small seed pockets so that you can shred and use the whole thing. If you use larger, more mature zucchini, discard the seed packet.

Don't peel them if you want the most nutrition. The gorgeous green flecks are part of the charm of these yummy muffins.

A food processor with a grater blade makes grating zucchini a snap, but I have used a good old box grater for many years and have the scarred knuckles to prove it.

Why I Skip Mixing the Dry Ingredients Separately

Life's too short to wash an extra bowl if you don't have to. When you make zucchini muffins or other quickbreads, put the wet ingredients—eggs, milk, vanilla, and oil—into a mixing bowl and whisk them together thoroughly.

Next, thoroughly whisk in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This will ensure they're all well distributed without an extra bowl to wash.

Add the granulated and brown sugar, whisking until the ingredients blend well. Then, add the flour and stir it in gently, just until no streaks of flour are visible. Overmixing can make the muffins tough. Who wants a tough muffin? Finally, gently fold in the shredded zucchini until it's evenly distributed.

How To Bake Easy Zucchini Muffins And Fancy Bakery Tricks

Fancy but easy bakery tricks, that is! This batter is just enough to make exactly twelve beautiful muffins.

I suggest you use cupcake liners to keep things neat. They also help keep the muffins moist if you don't eat them all in one sitting, no matter how tempting that may be!!

The easiest and tidiest way to fill the muffin cups is to use an ice cream scoop.

Mine is a #12. It holds two and two-thirds ounces, which is a scant one-third cup. Ice cream scoops have a unique numbering system! Ice cream scoops are sometimes called ice cream dishers!

Easy bakery trick: Once your muffin cups are full, a light sprinkle of coarse sanding sugar can add a nice sparkle and crunch to the tops of the muffins.

Look at that yummy, sweet, crunchy dome!

Bakery trick for tall, fancy-looking muffins: Pop the muffins into your preheated 425-degree oven and bake them at that temperature for five minutes.

Then, leave the muffins in the oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Continue baking them for another 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Why do this? The high temperature at the start of the bake time makes the tops of the muffins rise quickly for a beautifully lofty peak; then, when you turn down the heat, the insides bake through.

Let the muffins cool in the tin for a few minutes, then remove them and let them finish cooling on a rack. You can also eat them while they're still warm, letting the butter melt into every crevice!

PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

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Yield: 12 muffins

Easy Zucchini Muffins

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These easy zucchini muffins taste delicious and you can make them in just one bowl!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cup shredded zucchini
• Coarse sanding sugar for topping, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Put cupcake liners into twelve muffin tins or grease the muffin pan thoroughly.
3. Combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk together well.
4. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and whisk together thoroughly.
5. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk together well.
6. Add flour and whisk gently just until no streaks of four show. Do not overmix.
7. Gently fold in the shredded zucchini until evenly mixed into the batter.
8. Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tins, and if desired, sprinkle each muffin lightly with coarse sanding sugar.
9. Bake for five minutes at 425 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees without removing the muffins from the oven.
10. Bake for an additional 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before removing them from the tin onto a cooling rack.
12. Eat warm or allow to cool.
13. Keep muffins in a covered container at room temperature for three or four days, then refrigerate or freeze.

Right now, zucchini is plentiful. In fact, zucchini is so abundant that gardeners run out of ideas on how to use it, share it, freeze it, or store it! There's an old summertime joke in Nebraska about zucchini, "Keep your cars locked and your windows rolled up, or you will find zucchini in your back seat!"

Here are some of our favorite zucchini recipes I'm sure you will enjoy.

Zucchini Brownies - Exceptionally moist and rich, totally vegan. The recipe uses three full cups of shredded zucchini!

Easiest Zucchini Bread - You will love this zucchini bread like no other. The cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla are balanced perfectly, and the texture is divine.

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake - This recipe makes a dark chocolate zucchini cake that is dense, moist, and almost fudgy. It uses 3 full cups of grated zucchini but you can't taste it!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread - Here's a recipe for moist, rich, deep double-chocolate zucchini bread that is simply divine!

Remember, though, that you are not limited to summer to enjoy these recipes, because excellent zucchini is readily available in any good produce department year-round!

If you enjoyed a post, I'd love it if you would leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review or a comment. It really helps my little business connect with other people like us who love to eat well without a lot of fuss! ❤❤

Love, GB (Betty Streff)

Real food. Real kitchen. Real easy.

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