My family always waits until the day after Thanksgiving to start celebrating the Christmas season. But that morning, Mom immediately starts putting away her fall-themed décor in favor of her festive holiday displays.
She carefully tucks away her pumpkin-themed hand towels; the brown maple leaf-shaped plates; the acorn-shaped salt and pepper shakers; the cinnamon-scented candles; the rich red, gold, and orange table runner and place mats…
And replaces them with the contents of Christmas boxes from the attic. Snowflake-printed hand towels; deep crimson charger plates underneath bright white dinner plates rimmed with dainty gold lines; coffee mugs printed with smiling snowmen; pine-scented candles; a cloth “Santa’s Workshop” hanging advent calendar with a tiny toy for each day… Among plenty of other things!
She normally plays classical Christmas music while she works, and at the end of the day, we pop on a cartoon holiday movie like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Mom loves to light a small log in the fireplace while we watch as a family, filling the room with a cozy warmth, and she almost always pours herself a small glass of eggnog to enjoy too!
Thanks to Mom’s eggnog obsession, I’ve been craving eggnog-flavored baked treats more than usual this year… Especially after making this healthier eggnog pound cake recipe! (YUM!) So once my eggnog scones ran out, I decided to bake another breakfast-themed treat: these Healthy Eggnog Zucchini Mini Muffins!
Because I always associate cinnamon and nutmeg with both eggnog and zucchini bread, this flavor combo truly is a match made in heaven. So much coziness in each little muffin! But these contain no refined flour or added sugar, and they’re just 36 calories!
Which means you can definitely count on me sneaking seconds… If not more! 🙊
To make these healthier eggnog muffins, you’ll start with white whole wheat flour (like this!), along with cinnamon (this is my current favorite!), nutmeg (can’t have eggnog without it!), and allspice. I threw in allspice at the last minute because it smelled so comforting and perfect alongside the other two in my spice cabinet… Such a great decision!
Just a reminder… White whole wheat flour is not a combination of all-purpose (aka “white”) flour and whole wheat flour! It’s made exactly the same way as regular whole wheat flour, and it has the same health benefits, like extra fiber! The only difference? Regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat, whereas white whole wheat flour comes from a softer variety of white wheat (hence the name!). This gives it a lighter taste and texture, which is perfect for letting the eggnog flavor and the tender texture of these muffins shine!
With merely ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil (but I prefer the taste of butter!) and no egg yolks… These muffins get the rest of their tender texture from Greek yogurt! You knew I was going to say that, right?? I ♡ Greek yogurt and have used it in a million and two different recipes because it (a) provides the same moisture to your batter as extra butter or oil (b) for a fraction of the calories and (c) gives your baked treats a big protein boost too!
But when it comes to eggnog… I have a little anxiety about drinking raw eggs. I know store-bought cartons are perfectly safe (and I’ve eaten more raw egg-filled cookie dough than I care to admit!), but… I still can’t wrap my brain around drinking eggs. Yeesh.
So I use this vegan “eggnog” from Silk instead! It tastes like eggnog, but it contains no raw eggs. Even better? It has less than half the calories compared to traditional eggnog! And that’s a big reason why it’s the eggnog I use to make all of my eggnog-flavored treats!
The other important component, besides the eggnog of course, would be the zucchini! Before you fold it into your muffin batter, you must thoroughly pat it dry with paper towels. This removes the excess moisture from the zucchini. If you skipped that step, the zucchini would release that moisture into the batter while your muffins baked in the oven, and all of that extra water would weaken your muffins’ structure and cause them to collapse while cooling. (Trust me… I’ve done that experiment. A few times.) It takes a couple of minutes, but I promise it’s worth it!
And lastly, if you’re using liners like I did in these photos, remember to coat your liners with cooking spray before dolloping the batter inside! Low-fat batter sticks to liners like superglue… But coating them with cooking spray ensures that your liners easily peel away from your muffins. Such a nifty trick, right?
Christmas breakfast, lazy weekend brunch, or even just a random Wednesday morning… I’d happily enjoy these yummy muffins for any (or all) of the above! 👌🏻 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 😊) I’d love to see your mini muffins and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Eggnog Zucchini Mini Muffins | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla stevia, or adjusted to taste
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (210mL) vegan “eggnog” or light eggnog
- 1 ½ cups (160g) grated zucchini, patted dry
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 32 mini muffin cups with paper liners, and lightly coat them with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and vanilla stevia. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons of eggnog. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining eggnog, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.) Fold in the zucchini.
- Spread the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes or until the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
As written, there’s a fairly strong spice flavor. If you aren’t a big fan of spices, decrease the ground nutmeg to ¼ to ½ teaspoon instead.
I highly recommend using the vanilla stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too. I buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. If you prefer not to use the vanilla stevia, then substitute ½ cup (120mL) of pure maple syrup, honey or agave. If using this substitution, reduce the eggnog to 6 tablespoons (90mL), but remember, your mini muffins will have a very faint eggnog flavor instead.
This is the vegan “eggnog” that I use. If you can’t find it, this is another good option! (And you can use either in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Measure the zucchini before patting it dry. You must pat it dry to remove the excess moisture because that excess moisture will cause the muffins to collapse while cooling. To pat the zucchini dry, lay a double-thick layer of paper towels onto a cutting board, and arrange the freshly shredded zucchini on top. Place another double-thick layer of paper towels on the zucchini, and gently press down until the top towel turns completely wet.
This recipe will also make 12 standard-sized muffins, if you prefer. Bake at 350°F for 24-29 minutes or until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
{gluten-free, low fat, lower sugar}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Eggnog Scones
♡ Healthier Baked Eggnog Donut Holes
♡ Healthy Greek Yogurt Eggnog Coffee Cake
♡ The Best {Secretly Healthier!} Eggnog Snickerdoodles
♡ Healthier Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
♡ Healthier Eggnog Fudge
Question: If I want to use plain stevia instead of vanilla, how much stevia would I use and how much vanilla. Feel like the sweetness of liquid stevia vs liquid vanilla stevia if different. And is there a swap for granulated stevia and powdered stevia?
Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Tracy! If you’re using the same brand of plain liquid stevia that I use for the vanilla stevia, then you can use the same amount of plain liquid stevia + an additional ¼ teaspoon of vanilla. This recipe doesn’t use granulated stevia or powdered stevia, so I’m not quite sure what you mean… If you’re referring to one of my other recipes, please leave your question on that recipe! The answer can vary depending on the exact recipe, so that’ll allow me to best help you. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these mini muffins!
Hi Amy,
This recipe looks delish! I’m vegan and wondering if I can use egg substitute for the egg white.
Thank you!
Aileen
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Aileen! My brother is allergic to eggs, so I’m pretty familiar with egg-free baking. 😉 Ener-G is my favorite egg substitute! It works perfectly in nearly all of my recipes, including this one. For my recipes, you’ll need 1 ½ teaspoons of Ener-G + 2 tablespoons of warm water for each egg white. (You’ll also need ½ tablespoon of additional coconut oil for each egg yolk in my recipes, but that doesn’t apply here!) 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins!
Thank you for replying!
It’s my pleasure! I’m so excited to hear what you think of these Aileen! 🙂