ZUCCHINI PROTEIN MUFFINS (VEGAN)
It’s zucchini season and I’m still obsessed with protein muffins! I made these protein zucchini muffins vegan, gluten-free, and lower in calories than your typical muffins. They have just enough sweetness, a hint of cinnamon, and heaps of zucchini for added moisture. And of course, I couldn’t resist throwing some dark chocolate chips into the mix! You might also like my Flourless Mocha Protein Muffins (Vegan).
Did you know? Zucchini is high in fiber and water, which makes it a satiating add-in to oatmeal, baked goods, and pastas. One cup of zucchini also has 40% of your daily Vitamin A requirement! (source)
Protein recommendations
To add a dose of protein to these magical muffins, I went with LIV Body Lean Vegan Protein powder in Snickerdoodle. Vanilla or oatmeal flavor would be yummy too! I love that LIV Body is free of artificial ingredients, easy to digest, and abounding in delicious flavor options 🙂 You can use my code “NOEXCUSES” for 20% off all LIV Body products!
If you choose to use a whey blend or casein protein powder, it will change the texture somewhat and you will need to bake for less time (try 20-25 minutes). I do not recommend using pure whey isolate outside of a blend! If using collagen protein, you may have to add up to five tablespoons of coconut flour to help absorb some of the moisture.
Flour substitutions
The flour I used in this recipe is simply oat flour – or rolled oats blended into a powder. I’ve had success using gluten-free baking flour, but using coconut flour by itself yielded a weird, mushy texture. Other flours that should work include: all-purpose flour, brown rice flour, cake flour, cassava flour (Paleo), sorghum flour, spelt flour, or whole wheat pastry flour.
Sweetener substitutions
To add sweetness without all the sugar, I used my favorite organic stevia blend that’s twice as sweet as sugar. Any granulated sweetener will work! If you substitute baking stevia, granulated erythritol, or granulated sugar like coconut sugar, you may need up to twice as much (one cup)to achieve the same level of sweetness. If using stevia extract or drops, please refer to the brand-specific conversion chart!
Other substitutions
Of course, there’s lots of finely shredded zucchini in this recipe! If you don’t like zucchini, I’m sorry, this probably isn’t your recipe! LOL. If you prefer not to use egg whites (vegetarian), you can totally use flour tablespoons of flax seeds soaked in half a cup warm water for vegan. I found that egg whites result in taller, fluffier muffins (pictured). The “flax eggs” didn’t make the muffins rise as much, and left larger pockets of air instead of an evenly fluffy texture. But, both work! You could also try a vegan egg replacer which might work better 😉
The only other wet ingredients are unsweetened applesauce, almond butter, and vanilla extract (optional). The unsweetened applesauce can be swapped out for butter or oil, and the almond butter can be swapped out for cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
Feel free to add some vegan chocolate chips like I did, or maybe some walnuts, seedless raisins, or sliced almonds! Whatever you choose, these muffins are sure to become a favorite way to get those veggies in.
Here’s the printable recipe for these Vegan Zucchini Protein Muffins! I hope you’ll rate and comment below if you try them 🙂
This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by LIV Body.
Zucchini Protein Muffins (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup (160g) fine oat flour* or gluten-free baking flour
- 2/3 cup (80g) vegan protein powder* I used LIV Body brand in Snickerdoodle flavor, code "NOEXCUSES" for 20% off
- 1/2 cup calorie-free sweetener*
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt optional
- 1 1/2 cup (2 medium) zucchini finely grated
- 1/2 cup (4 large) egg whites* or 1/4 cup ground flaxseed soaked in 1/2 cup warm water, or vegan egg replacer
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce*
- 1/4 cup almond butter*
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract optional
- 1/4 cup mini vegan chocolate chips optional
*See blog post above for substitutions.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Whisk together dry ingredients (through salt) in a medium mixing bowl.
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Combine flaxseed and warm water (if using instead of egg whites) and let soak for a minute while you finely grate the zucchini.
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Add soaked flaxseed, zucchini, and remaining wet ingredients (through vanilla) to dry ingredients and mix until no dry clumps remain.
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Fold in chocolate chips if desired.
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Coat 12 wells of a regular-sized muffin tin with cooking spray (can also use liners), then divide batter between wells.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean (check at 20 minutes if using whey or casein). Let cool before removing from muffin tin.
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Leftovers will keep in the fridge in an airtight container at least a week, or in the freezer at least a month.
Notes
Also in Blog
CHOCOLATE PEANUT PROTEIN CANDY BARS (VEGAN)
PUMPKIN CHIP PROTEIN BREAD (GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE)
This Pumpkin Chip Protein Bread has a rich, tender texture full of pumpkin spice and chocolate chips (no dry protein bread here). The kids and I can't get enough! Best of all, it's gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and easily made egg-free and vegan.
