Healthy Lemon Zucchini Muffins

 
A few weeks after I turned ten, my family moved across town to an older yet larger house with incredibly spacious front and back yards. The house sat on nearly a full acre, which was almost unheard of in my highly populated hometown!  

As a result, the previous owner had planted lots of fruit trees, including figs, peaches, plums, apples, avocados, oranges and three types of lemons. Since my dad and brother love lemon treats, we were especially excited about those last trees!

After picking our first big bag of lemons, we tried turning them into lemonade popsicles. We followed a simple recipe we found on the internet (just lemon juice, water, and sugar!), and we poured the mixture into popsicle molds.
 

 
That evening, once the popsicles had completely set, we pulled them out of the freezer to eat for dessert. They refused to budge from the molds when we gently tugged on the sticks, so Mom ran them under hot water for a few seconds. We tried again, giving them a more vigorous yank, and…

We pulled the sticks right out, while the popsicles stayed firmly inside of the molds! Oops…

Since then, I’ve only tried making homemade popsicles one other time. I decided to stick with baked lemon treats instead!
 

 
Like these healthy lemon zucchini muffins! They’re incredibly soft and tender with lots of sweet citrus flavor, which pairs perfectly with the zucchini. I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical at first… But this flavor combo is so irresistible — and now one of my favorites!

And unlike those popsicles… These definitely popped right out of the muffin pan!
 

QUICK OVERVIEW – HEALTHY LEMON ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Difficulty: Mainly easy, including for many beginner bakers.

Taste: Bright, sunshiny, sweet, and distinctly citrusy with comforting notes of zucchini.

Texture: Incredibly tender and moist muffins with soft bits of zucchini in every bite.
 

KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY LEMON ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Let’s talk about what you’ll need to make these healthy lemon zucchini muffins!

Flour. You’ll start with white whole wheat flour. No, it’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour! Instead, white whole wheat flour is made from soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat.

They both have the same health benefits, but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture. And that quality lets the citrus flavor and moist texture of these healthy lemon zucchini muffins truly shine!

Tip: If you’d like to make these lemon zucchini muffins gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve included my favorite gluten-free options there!
 

 
Butter. And while we’re on the topic of that moist texture… These healthy lemon zucchini muffins only require ½ tablespoon of butter. Yes, that’s it! The rest of their tenderness comes from a few of my favorite healthy baking ingredients, including…

Greek yogurt. I love Greek yogurt! I’ve used it to make everything from muffins and scones to pancakes and waffles to cakes and cupcakes to brownies and cheesecake… And even whipped cream and frosting! In this recipe, Greek yogurt adds the same moisture to your muffin batter as extra butter or oil — but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your muffins a protein boost!

Low calorie muffins… That are higher in protein… And still really moist and tender. Win-win-win!

Zucchini. No surprises about including this ingredient! Because the zucchini also helps with these muffins’ supremely moist texture, use whole fresh zucchini that you grate yourself. Some stores offer spiralized or pre-grated zucchini, but I’ve found those tend to be stiffer and drier. Grating your own yields the best soft and tender muffin texture!
 

 
Egg whites. These play a role in the structure of your healthy lemon zucchini muffins! The whites contain the majority of the protein in eggs, and that protein helps your muffins rise in the oven and hold their shape while cooling. Without both egg whites, they’d collapse some and turn out denser… But if you use both, your muffins should turn out lovely and tall, like bakery-style ones!

Tip: If you’d like to use whole eggs, that’s perfectly fine! I’ve included how to do so in the Notes section of the recipe.

Sweetener. These healthy lemon zucchini muffins contain no added sugar! Instead, you’ll sweeten them with another one of my favorite ingredients: liquid stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!), and it’s highly concentrated. You just need 2 ¼ teaspoons for this entire batch of healthy lemon zucchini muffins!

This is the one I use because I love its sweet flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too!)

Tip: Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best results, I highly recommend using the same one that I do!
 

 
Lemons. Time to talk lemons! This section is a bit nerdy — but it’s extremely important. Let’s start with the easy part first!

You’ll use both lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice in these healthy lemon zucchini muffins. The former actually provides most of the citrus flavor, so don’t skip or skimp on it! For the best taste, use lemons that are pure yellow without any green spots. Their zest has a stronger, brighter, and purer flavor.

And now for the science-y bit… I developed this recipe to use Meyer lemons. They have a fuller, noticeably sweeter flavor, and they’re also less acidic — meaning they have a higher pH than regular, traditional lemons. (This is because they’re a hybrid of citron, mandarin, and pomelo. That blend raises their pH!)

That acidity, or pH, plays a huge role in the texture of your muffins.

If you use Meyer lemons, your muffins will be perfectly soft and tender inside. They’ll rise beautifully while baking, and they’ll remain nice and tall while cooling.

If you use regular lemon juice, it makes the batter MUCH more acidic. Too much acid in the batter will make your muffins collapse while cooling, and their insides will also appear gummy and raw — even though they’re fully baked all the way through. (They’re not actually raw! They only look raw. I promise!)

So if you can find them, I highly recommend Meyer lemons! These muffins have the best tender texture when made with Meyer lemons, and you won’t need to make any adjustments to the recipe.

If you can only find regular lemons, that’s okay too! You’ll decrease the amount of lemon juice and increase the amount of milk to avoid adding too much acid to the batter. With this modification, your muffins will have the same tender texture and won’t collapse while cooling. (And since the zest provides the majority of the lemon flavor, your muffins will still taste just as citrusy and bright too!)

Whew!! We made it through the nerdy bit. Still with me? Because it’s now smooth sailing — or baking! — from here!
 

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY LEMON ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Now that you’ve gathered your ingredients, let’s talk about how to make the best healthy lemon zucchini muffins! This recipe is easy and straightforward. I also have some tips to ensure your muffins turn out beautifully soft, moist, and flavorful!

Measure correctly. This is the key to just about every baking recipe! It’s really important to measure ingredients the right way. For the flour, use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will make the batter dry, and your muffins will also turn out bland and crumbly. It only takes a few moments to measure the flour the right way, and the end result is truly worth it!

For the lemons, measure the lemon zest with tablespoons or grams, and measure the lemon juice with cups or mL. Not all “medium” lemons are the same size! So if you measure the zest or juice by the number of lemons instead, that changes the flavor and texture of your muffins… And not in a good way — especially because of the acidic pH of lemon juice! (See the “Lemons” header in the “Key Ingredients to Make Healthy Lemon Zucchini Muffins” section above for more info!)

For the zucchini, measure it right after you’ve grated it but before patting it dry. (More on that momentarily!) Also, don’t try adding more zucchini! That throws off the ratio of wet and dry ingredients, so your muffins would collapse while cooling and turn out overly dense.

Dry the zucchini. Before stirring it into the batter, you must thoroughly pat the zucchini dry with paper towels. This removes excess moisture from the zucchini. If you skipped this step and just added the zucchini straight to the bowl, then the zucchini would release that extra water into the muffins while they baked… And that extra water would mean your muffins would (a) take longer to bake and (b) collapse while cooling from the extra water. I promise it’s worth the extra time to pat your zucchini dry! (And yes, like we just covered, adding extra zucchini to the batter would have the same effect!)
 

 
Mix by hand. Put away your stand mixer and hand-held mixer! Those tend to overmix low fat and sugar-free batters (like this one!). Overmixing results in a tough, rubbery, or gummy texture… But making the batter by hand yields a beautifully soft and tender texture in these lemon zucchini muffins!

For the best results, use a whisk where explicitly instructed, and switch to a fork for everything else. That’s right — a fork! The open space between a fork’s tines lets the ingredients pass through and mix more efficiently (compared to the wide, flat sides of spatulas and spoons), so this fork trick also helps guard against overmixing.

Prep the muffin liners. If using muffin liners, you must coat your muffin liners with cooking spray. Low-fat batters (like these healthy lemon zucchini muffins!) stick to muffin liners and muffin pans like superglue, so coating them with cooking spray helps the paper liners peel back more easily. Such a nifty trick — and I use it for all of my healthy cupcake recipes too!

Bake. The final step… Other than eating, of course! Your muffins are done baking when the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.
 

 
Confession time… I’ve made (and eaten!) way more of these muffins than I should probably admit! 😉 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 lemon zucchini muffins!

Healthy Lemon Zucchini Muffins

© Amy's Healthy Baking

Yields: 12 muffins

As a kid, I only ate lemon poppy seed muffins… But now, I love these lemon zucchini muffins even more than their poppy seed cousins! These muffins are really moist and tender with lots of bright citrus flavor, and the zucchini adds a really fun twist. Leftover muffins will keep for at least four days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients 

• 2 ¼ cups (270g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 ½ tbsp (14g) lemon zest (see Notes!)
• ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ tsp liquid stevia (see Notes!)
• ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• ½ cup (120mL) freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (see Notes!)
• ¾ cup 180mL nonfat milk
• 1 ½ cups (135g) freshly grated zucchini, patted dry (see Notes!)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, and generously coat them with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the lemon zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in the lemon juice. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.) Fold in the zucchini.
• Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 23-26 minutes or until the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It's really important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will make your muffins turn out dry and bland.

 

IMPORTANT MIXING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Do not use a stand mixer or hand-held mixer! Use a whisk where instructed and a fork for everything else. Mixers will overwork the batter, and the muffins will turn out tough, gummy, rubbery, and/or dense.

 

IMPORTANT LEMON NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: I highly recommend using Meyer lemons, if you can! Meyer lemons are sweeter, less acidic, and have a higher pH compared to regular lemons. When the batter is too acidic (aka if you use ½ cup of regular lemon juice instead of Meyer lemon juice!), then your muffins will fail to rise properly, turn out denser, and almost look "raw" on the inside (even when they're 100% fully baked all the way through!).

 

So if you only have regular lemons, then use 1 ½ tablespoons of regular lemon juice + 6 ½ tablespoons of milk in place of the Meyer lemon juice. That ratio prevents the batter from being too acidic, so your muffins will turn out with the same texture as when made with Meyer lemons. (Because the zest provides the majority of the lemon flavor, rather than the juice, they'll taste almost exactly the same too!)

 

For the best results, use lemons that are pure yellow, without any green spots. Lemon zest that's pure yellow provides the brightest citrus flavor.

 

IMPORTANT ZUCCHINI NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Measure the zucchini before patting it dry. You must thoroughly 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 firmly press down until the top towel turns completely wet. Continue to repeat with a fresh set of double thick paper towels on top until you can’t press any more moisture out of the zucchini.

 

FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.

 

EGG WHITES NOTE + ALTERNATIVE: You must use both egg whites. The protein in the egg whites helps prevent your muffins from collapsing while cooling. If you didn’t use both egg whites, your muffins would sink some, and they'd also turn out denser and somewhat soggy in texture.

 

If you prefer to use whole eggs, then use 2 whole eggs AND decrease the milk by 1 tablespoon to compensate for the added volume from the yolks.

 

STEVIA NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they're not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best results, I recommend using the same one I do. I buy mine online here because that's the best price I've found. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too!)

 

If you prefer not to use the liquid stevia, then substitute ¾ cup (180mL) of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave AND omit the milk.

 

MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.

 

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour, use as follows: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¾ cup (90g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (I like this one from Bob's RedMill) will also work, if measured like this.

 

HOW TO STORE: Store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep for at least 4 days (if not longer!).

 

{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar}

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.

View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
 
 
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡  The Ultimate Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
♡  Healthy Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Protein Muffins
♡  Healthy Lemon Scones with Lemon Glaze
♡  Healthy Lemon Blueberry Scones
♡  Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Bites
♡  Healthy Lemon Cupcakes
♡  Healthy Lemon Pound Cake
♡  …and the rest of Amy’s healthy muffin recipes!