I’m partnering with Bob’s Red Mill® to bring you today’s recipe! I absolutely love their healthy, top-quality products (flours, oats, protein powders, and more!). They ensure my recipes turn out perfectly and taste delicious every time I make them!
Throughout my childhood, my grandma occasionally flew out to California to visit us. We drove to the airport to pick her up, parked in the short-term lot, and walked all the way to her gate to greet her. (This was ages ago before all of the 21st century airport security measures!)
Once we exchanged hugs, we headed for baggage claim to pick up her suitcase, and we carefully wheeled it out to the car. Back at home, Dad carried it up the stairs to the guest bedroom, and I eagerly bounced around in the hallway, waiting for Grandma to unzip it…
Because she often packed two homemade loaves of zucchini bread for us! Even though it had weird “green things” inside (I was a very picky eater as a young girl!), the cinnamon and nutmeg and sugar masked their taste… And the texture was so moist and tender, just like pound cake.
Since it was technically called a “quick bread,” even with ample amounts of oil and sugar in the batter, Mom let us eat slices as afternoon snacks. I often asked for seconds, and the first loaf always seemed to disappear by the time we drove Grandma to the airport for her return flight!
Looking back, I realized that particular zucchini bread probably should’ve been classified as dessert… But not this healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake! With plenty of oats and other wholesome ingredients, it’s definitely healthy enough for snacking — and even breakfast! Yet it still has the same irresistible spice flavors and supremely moist texture as those loaves from my childhood…
Which means this cake disappears just as quickly too! 😉
QUICK OVERVIEW – HEALTHY ZUCCHINI OATMEAL SNACK CAKE
Difficulty: Fairly easy, including for many beginner bakers.
Taste: Lightly sweetened with plenty of cozy oats, warm spices, and bits of comforting zucchini.
Texture: A very moist and tender cake with supremely soft zucchini woven throughout every bite.
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE A HEALTHY ZUCCHINI OATMEAL SNACK CAKE
Let’s go over what you’ll need to make this healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake! Since your kitchen probably contains baking staples like vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt, we’ll stick with the more interesting ingredients.
Oats. Based on this recipe’s name, I’m sure you predicted this one! To make this snack cake, you’ll start with Bob’s Red Mill Quick Cooking Oats. Bob’s Red Mill products are huge staples in my pantry because they’re top quality and taste amazing — and they’re so dependable and affordable! With how many different flours and oats and grains that I use, I could probably single-handedly keep Bob’s Red Mill in business…
But getting back to these oats! They’re the key to this snack cake, both in texture and nutrition, so it’s important to use the correct kind. Quick cooking oats are also called “one minute oats” or “instant oats,” and they’re smaller and thinner than old-fashioned rolled oats. This smaller size means they soften faster, and because this snack cake doesn’t bake for very long, that’s really important to achieving a nice moist and tender texture!
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake gluten-free, then use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Quick Cooking Oats. They work perfectly!
Flour. Next comes Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour. I love how whole wheat flour has more fiber and micronutrients compared to all-purpose flour, and it also adds to the cozy flavor of this snack cake.
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake gluten-free, then use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. It works beautifully too!
Spices. You’ll mix two spices into this batter: cinnamon and nutmeg. The nutmeg was a special secret addition to Grandma’s zucchini bread, and after trying this snack cake both with and without… I totally understand why! The nutmeg adds a deep richness, depth, and fullness to the spice flavor, so don’t skip it!
Tip: This is my favorite cinnamon! It has a slightly stronger, richer, and sweeter flavor. It’s really affordable and practically the only kind I use in my baking now!
Unsalted butter or coconut oil. Unlike many traditional recipes that call for ¼ to ½ cup of oil, you only need ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil to make this one. That helps keep your healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake low calorie and low fat! Yet it still has a lovely moist and tender texture because of two other key ingredients. Stay tuned — more on those momentarily!
Egg whites. These bind together the other ingredients. The egg whites’ protein also provides structure and helps your cake stand nice and tall after it finishes baking, rather than collapsing while cooling.
Greek yogurt. Did you guess correctly? Greek yogurt is one of those other two ingredients that helps create a lovely moist and soft texture! I love using Greek yogurt in my healthy baking recipes because it adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil — but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your snack cake a big protein boost. Win-win!
Sweetener. Instead of refined granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake with pure maple syrup. It’s the kind that comes directly from maple trees and only contains one ingredient: maple syrup. It’s usually sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this!).
Tip: Skip the pancake syrup and sugar-free syrup! These contain other ingredients, which change the way they behave in baking recipes. This is particularly true of sugar-free syrup. It’s often water-based, which makes your cake collapse while cooling and turn out very dense and squidgy. Stick with real, true, 100% pure maple syrup instead!
Milk. Almost any kind will work, so feel free to reach for whatever currently sits in your fridge. I use nonfat milk and unsweetened vanilla almond milk the most. Both yield delicious snack cakes!
Zucchini. Of course, we can’t forget the freshly grated zucchini! In addition to its flavor, the zucchini also adds moisture to this batter and yields an exceptionally soft cake. So if you guessed that zucchini was the second key ingredient for a moist texture… You’re correct!
And yes, it must be freshly grated! Pre-grated store-bought zucchini is often drier and blander. It only takes a few moments to grate it yourself, and the flavor and texture are completely worth it.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY ZUCCHINI OATMEAL SNACK CAKE
Now that you’ve gathered your ingredients, let’s quickly talk about how to make the best healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake! There are a few key things I’d like to cover with you, starting with…
Measure correctly. You may have heard this once or twice… Or a dozen times… Or maybe even three hundred or more. But it’s still worth repeating!
It’s extremely important to measure the ingredients correctly. Adding too much — or not enough — can dramatically change both the flavor and texture of your snack cake.
For the flour and oats, use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much of either ingredient will make your healthy snack cake turn out dry or crumbly… Especially the oats! They act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the batter, so make sure you measure them very carefully.
For the pure maple syrup and milk, use measuring cups — not a scale! Although many kitchen scales offer a mL option, that only works for liquids with a density of exactly 1.0g/mL, like water. Maple syrup and milk have different densities, so unless you’d like to look up the exact numbers of your particular kinds and do the math to convert them from mL to grams… Measuring cups are more accurate and much faster too!
For the zucchini, measure by cups or grams — not by the number of zucchini! Not all “medium” or “large” zucchini are the exact same size. Because the zucchini adds moisture to the batter (and therefore contributes to the final texture), it’s important to use the correct amount. Too much zucchini adds excess moisture to the batter, which causes your cake to collapse while cooling. Not enough zucchini yields a drier and potentially crumbly cake. But if you fold in the right amount? You’ll be rewarded with an exceptionally moist, soft, and flavorful snack cake!
Dry the zucchini. After measuring your freshly grated zucchini, but before stirring it into the batter, thoroughly pat it dry with paper towels to squeeze out the extra moisture. If you don’t, that extra water gets released into this cake while it bakes, which also adds too much moisture… And that means your snack cake will turn out underdone in the middle and collapse while cooling. Not good! It only takes a couple of minutes to squeeze out that moisture, and I promise the end result is worth it.
Tip: To dry the zucchini, place a double-thick layer of paper towels on a cutting board, evenly spread the grated zucchini on top, and firmly press down with another double-thick layer of paper towels until that top layer turns completely wet. Continue to repeat this with a fresh set of dry paper towels on top until they can’t soak up any more moisture. It works like a charm!
Alternating additions. This little trick yields the best texture in cakes! It’s a shorthand way of saying add some of the flour mixture, gently fold it in, pour in some of the milk, gently stir that in, and keep switching between them until you run out of flour mixture and milk.
Alternating additions help guard against overmixing. When batter is overmixed, the cake can turn out tough, gummy, or rubbery — not good! Yet when the batter is gently and carefully brought together, your cake will have a beautifully moist and soft texture.
Use a fork. Yes… As strange as it sounds, I highly recommend a fork to make the batter! Unlike the flat surface of a spatula or wooden spoon, the open spaces between a fork’s tines allow ingredients to pass through and mix together more efficiently. That helps guard against overmixing as well!
Tip: Skip your stand mixer and hand-held mixer! Even on their lowest settings, these often overmix low fat batters, such as this one. For the best results, use a whisk where explicitly instructed, and use a fork for everything else.
Bake. This cake doesn’t stay in the oven for too long! It’s done when the center feels firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Because of the really moist zucchini, the crumbs might not look entirely dry, but that’s okay. Focus on no raw batter!
Cool completely. Yes, I know… It’s incredibly tempting to cut into this cake while it’s still warm. That cozy aroma gets to me too! However, a cake’s structure doesn’t fully set until the cake is completely cool. If you slice into it while it’s still warm, you’ll disrupt that process… So for the best texture, wait until your cake has reached room temperature. (But you can pop it in the fridge once the pan is cool enough to touch with your bare hands to speed things up!)
FAQS ABOUT THIS HEALTHY ZUCCHINI OATMEAL SNACK CAKE
Is this healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, or low calorie?
Yes — to everything! When baked as written, this zucchini oatmeal snack cake is naturally clean eating, low fat, and low calorie (compared to many traditional recipes!). I’ve also shared how to make it gluten-free in the Notes section of the recipe.
Can I use old-fashioned rolled oats?
In a pinch — but briefly run them through a food processor or blender first! Just pulse them a few times, until they’re around ⅛ to ¼ of their original size. This makes them closer in size to quick cooking oats, so your snack cake should end up with a similar moist and tender texture.
Can I substitute a different flour?
It depends on the type! I’ve included other options in the Notes section that also work really well.
What about whole eggs?
Yup! Just decrease the milk by 1 tablespoon to compensate for the added volume from the yolks.
Can I use a different sweetener?
Yes again! Honey and agave both perform beautifully.
Or another type of milk?
Absolutely! Nearly any kind will work, so feel free to try whatever carton currently sits in your fridge.
Can I add more zucchini?
No — and I beg that you don’t! Even if your zucchini is really big or you accidentally grate too much, save the extra for something else. (May I suggest these oatmeal cookies — even a second snack cake??) Folding in more zucchini will add too much moisture to the batter, and that results in a cake that collapses while cooling and turns out overly dense.
Is there a way to make this cake sweeter?
You bet! Substitute additional pure maple syrup for an equal amount of milk. (For example, add another 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, and reduce the milk by 2 tablespoons to compensate.)
My cake batter was pretty dry and stiff. Why is that?
The most common culprits are too many oats, too much flour, not enough sweetener, or not enough milk. Make sure you’re measuring each of these correctly! (See the “Measure correctly” header in the “How to Make the Best Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Snack Cake” section for more details.)
My cake collapsed while cooling and turned out dense. Why did that happen?
The typical reasons for that are not thoroughly drying the zucchini, folding in extra zucchini, or adding too much of any wet ingredient. Substituting sugar-free maple syrup will also yield this result, so stick with pure maple syrup or one of the other alternatives in the Notes section instead. (See the “Zucchini” and “Sweetener” headers in the “Key Ingredients to Make a Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Snack Cake” section and the “Measure correctly” and “Dry the zucchini” headers in the “How to Make the Best Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Snack Cake” section for more info!)
What’s the best way to store this healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake? And how long will it last?
Store your snack cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It should last for at least four days, if not longer. Individual slices also freeze really well!
Doesn’t that look tempting?? 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 healthy zucchini oatmeal snack cake!
Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (150g) Bob’s Red Mill Quick Cooking Oats (gluten-free if needed and measured like this)
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour or Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- 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
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 6 tbsp (90mL) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- 2 cups (180g) freshly grated zucchini (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Add in Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps of yogurt remain. Stir in the maple syrup. Alternate between adding the oat mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the oat mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the oat mixture in 3 equal parts.) Gently fold in the zucchini.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 28-32 minutes or until the center feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with some crumbs attached. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before slicing and serving.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
This post was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill®. As always, all text, photographs, recipes, and opinions are my own.
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins
♡ Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Banana Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy snack cake recipes and healthy zucchini recipes!
I used whole eggs, full fat milk and full fat yoghurt…..very delicious
I’m so glad you enjoyed this oatmeal cake, Wanda! Thank you for taking the time to let me know — it really means a lot! 🙂
I would like to know if i can add fruit,, blueberries, dried cranberries, and if so how much.
Thank you
Denise
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Denise! I have other flavor versions of this oatmeal snack cake that might be of interest, including my blueberry oatmeal snack cake, oatmeal raisin snack cake (where you can easily substitute dried cranberries instead!), apple oatmeal snack cake, peach oatmeal snack cake, and more. You can find all of my oatmeal snack cake recipes here!
If you’d prefer to use both zucchini and one of those mix-ins that you mentioned in the same cake, then it’ll be much easier to use dried cranberries or whole fresh blueberries. (Other fruits can release more of their juices while baking, which can throw off the ratio of wet and dry ingredients!)
For the former, I’d recommend reducing the zucchini to 1 ½ cups and adding 6-8 tablespoons of dried cranberries (and I highly recommend hydrating them first — see my oatmeal raisin snack cake recipe above for details about how to do that!). For the latter, I’d recommend reducing the zucchini to 1 cup and adding 1 cup of fresh blueberries.
I’d love to hear what you decide to try and how your snack cake turns out! 🙂
Thank you, I have a ton of zucchini in my garden and looking at different was to use it up
Denise
My pleasure, Denise! I love zucchini, so I wish I had your green thumb. I don’t have the best luck with growing vegetables and fruits! If it’s helpful, you can find all of 30+ my recipes that contain zucchini here. Just in case you’re looking for even more ideas to use up yours! 🙂