Healthy Lemon Zucchini Muffins

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

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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.