Paleo Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins (or Bread)
Posted Oct 07, 2018, Updated Oct 06, 2022
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Paleo pumpkin zucchini muffins recipe is a healthy breakfast that’s easy to make. These muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free and can easily be made into healthy pumpkin zucchini bread!
Is anyone else teetering between sadness that summer is ending and elation about the beginning of fall? I feel like a great battle of emotions is taking place in my heart right now. I love splashing in the pool, and hiking in the brisk fall air. Both flip flops and a warm pair of boots make my feet sing. Am I ready to give up tomatoes and watermelon for apples and pomegranates?! Oh the war within!
Since making decisions is completely overrated (and something I am nearly incapable of doing), I created this healthy Pumpkin Zucchini Muffin recipe so you don’t have to! Today summer and fall collide to make something beautiful…Paleo Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins! Can’t decide between summer and fall, no problem at all!
Lets embrace the summer-fall duality with this muffin recipe. Loaded with veggies, these muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free and paleo!
Paleo Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins: Ingredients & Substitutions
I really do not recommend making any substitutions in this recipe! Especially do not tamper with the kind and amount of flour. Paleo baking is a fine art, and I changing the flours in any way may result in a not-so-great muffin!
- Pumpkin puree. Homemade pumpkin puree or canned can be used in this recipe. Please be sure to use a pure variety that has only one ingredient: pumpkin. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe. Just be sure to choose a variety that complies with your dietary needs.
- Coconut oil. Butter or ghee are tasty substitutes for coconut oil.
- Chocolate chips. These can be left out entirely. Also feel free to substitute your favorite chip variety, cinnamon, white chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, peanut butter, the sky’s the limit! For a paleo variety try these Enjoy Life Foods morsels.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice. Use store bought or make your own with this recipe: homemade pumpkin pie spice.
How to Make Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins
These pumpkin zucchini muffins are a breeze to make! So let’s walk through the process together
Use a Vitamix & Blend the Wet Ingredients
These muffins are best when the batter is made in the Vitamix (surprise surprise)! Whenever you are making batter in the Vitamix, it’s important to start by adding your wet ingredients first!
Start by adding the pumpkin and the zucchini and blending until smooth. This will ensure the zucchini is completely blended (see the photo on the right below, it’s undetectable.
Add the dry ingredients
Next, add the dry ingredients and blend until combined! As you can see in the middle photo, the batter gets pretty thick (which is how it should be)! So you may need to scrape the sides and keep blending until the mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout).
3. Stir in the Chocolate Chips
Chocolate chips are optional (I guess)! But if you would like to add them be sure to stir them into the batter by hand (do not blend).
Fill the muffin pan
I recommend using a nonstick muffin tin to bake these Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins. Such a pan crisps the outsides beautifully. Please do not use muffin liners because they are difficult to remove from the baked muffins/
Grease the muffin pan well using your favorite method. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill the wells of a standard muffin tin with the pumpkin zucchini muffin batter. The wells should be filled about 3/4 full to prevent the muffins from overflowing!
After filling each well, I like to put a few extra chocolate chips on top for good measure.
Bake the Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins
Once you have finished filling the muffin tin, bake the Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins in the preheated oven. The muffins are done when the tops have set and spring back when touched!
Let cool & remove
Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing them and transferring them to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way. If they are removed too early they will likely fall apart in the transferring process.
Use a spoon or knife to release the edges of the pumpkin zucchini muffins from the pan before removing them completely. This will ensure they hold their shape well!
Store/freeze
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
These healthy Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins also freeze well. Make sure they are cooled completely, then put them in a ziplock bag or freezer-friendly container and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To eat, simply reheat in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds (depending on the number of muffins), or warm in the oven!
Recipe FAQs
I just chopped the zucchini into large pieces because the Vitamix makes it undetectable. However, for measuring purposes I recommend chopping or shredding the zucchini so you use the correct amount.
This recipe can easily be made into bread. Simply bake the batter in a 9×5″ or 8×3″ pan for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees F!
I recommend lining the loaf pan with aluminum foil and then greasing the foil for easy removal! Let the bread cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing.
If you make and love our recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along with us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so we can see your creations!
Paleo Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup unpeeled finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 TBS coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup chocolate chips or cinnamon chips*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a standard muffin pan, set aside.
- Combine coconut flour, almond flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl, set aside.
- Put zucchini, pumpkin, coconut sugar, and coconut oil into your blender (Vitamix) or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and apple cider vinegar and blend until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and blend until combined.
- Add eggs all at once and blend until just combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips (or cinnamon chips) by hand.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean. (To make into bread bake in 9×5” loaf pan for 35-40 minutes!)
Video
Notes
Ingredient substitutions
- Pumpkin puree. Homemade pumpkin puree or canned can be used in this recipe. Please be sure to use a pure variety that has only one ingredient: pumpkin. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe. Just be sure to choose a variety that complies with your dietary needs.
- Coconut oil. Butter or ghee are tasty substitutes for coconut oil.
- Chocolate chips. These can be left out entirely. Also feel free to substitute your favorite chip variety, cinnamon, white chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, peanut butter, the sky’s the limit! For a paleo variety try these Enjoy Life Foods morsels.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice. Use store bought or make homemade pumpkin pie spice!
To make into bread:
These healthy pumpkin muffins can easily be made into pumpkin zucchini bread! Simply bake the batter in a 9×5″ or 8×3″ pan for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees F!Store/freeze
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. These healthy Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins also freeze well. Make sure they are cooled completely, then put them in a ziplock bag or freezer-friendly container and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. To eat, simply reheat in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds (depending on the number of muffins), or warm in the oven!Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More delicious recipes!
I have lots of delicious ideas for you if you’re looking to make something with pumpkin, besides this paleo pumpkin bread of course!
- Pumpkin baked oatmeal is one of our favorite fall breakfasts!
- Baked pumpkin donuts are another yummy breakfast for special days!
- This no-bake vegan pumpkin cheesecake is great if you have people in your family with food allergies! Also these paleo pumpkin muffins, and these mini vegan pumpkin pies!
- Make a batch of this pumpkin coffee creamer. It’s healthy and delicious!
- This pumpkin smoothie tastes like a liquid pumpkin pie but it’s so much healthier and only takes 5 minutes to make!
- This literally the best pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting I’ve ever had – ever.
- Spinach Banana muffins (Like a green smoothie in muffin form! gluten-free)
- Paleo Zucchini Banana Muffins (Where this recipe was adapted from! Paleo, gluten-free & dairy-free)
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Packed full of zucchini and protein from Greek yogurt! Gluten-free)
The links in this post are affiliate links, thank you for supporting JoyFoodSunshine.
Does this recipe definitely need the apple cider vinegar? Can it be replaced by something else
It helps them rise! You can use white vinegar!
I wondered what the vinegar was for. I didn’t have any on hand. I usually do. Made them without it. I liked this recipe. I didn’t put any kind of chips in mine.
Do you have to use coconut flour, does it taste like coconut?? I don’t like the flavor of coconut.
Hey Gail! Yes! There is no substitute for coconut flour in this recipe. It absorbs significantly more water than any other flours, and trying to substitute is not a good choice. I do think there is a very slight coconut flavor from the flour and the coconut oil, but it’s not at all overpowering!
Have you ever tried making this recipe without eggs?
Hey Sarah! I have not tried making this recipe without eggs! I’m sorry!
Hi there! Can’t wait to try this recipe. My only issue is I don’t own a Vitamix, just a regular blender. Will that still work?
It should work in a regular blender! You might just be left with a few specks of zucchini! 😉
I tried these and they were great. I was wanting to make them again but add chocolate protien powder, do you think it would have an adverse effect?
I’m guessing you add the baking powder with the dry ingredients? It doesn’t mention it in the directions.
YES! Thank you for pointing that out to me Liz! I will fix it ASAP!
I would love to make these muffins but my daughter is allergic to almonds. Can you tell me how to substitute the almond flour? Do I just replace it with more coconut flour or something else? Oat flour? Thanks for your help!!
Hey Melissa! Coconut flour is not a substitute for almond flour. It absorbs significantly more liquid than almond (and most other) flours! Do you need these muffins to be paleo? If so, you could try a 1:1 paleo all-purpose baking flour mix (if it doesn’t contain almond flour). If you don’t need them to be paleo, all-purpose flour or gluten-free all purpose flour should work well…although I have never tried those substitutions so I cannot say for certain!
Super scrumptious recipe! I made these yesterday & more than half of them are already gone. 😉 I will be baking more! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I apologize if someone has already asked this question but, can you can use only coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Hey Amie! Coconut flour has very unique properties and is not a suitable substitution for any other type of flour. It absorbs significantly more liquid than almond flour, so your muffins will almost definitely turn out dry and crumbly. If you have an almond allergy you can try substituting tapioca flour…although I have not made these muffins with anything other than almond flour so I cannot guarantee the same results!
I followed this exactly but mine didn’t raise as much and took awhile to cook. Was there anything I could’ve missed? Perhaps more baking powder?
Hmm Karen I’m so sorry that happened! It’s always a bummer when you try a recipe and it doesn’t turn out the way you expect it to! Did you use canned or fresh pumpkin? Honestly these muffins aren’t really high-risers if you know what I mean! LOL! So the fact that you didn’t get a huge rise isn’t that concerning to me, however a super long bake time is strange. The only thing I can think of is that maybe your pumpkin or zucchini had significantly more moisture? More baking powder could definitely help with the rise, or maybe squeezing out some of the excess water from your zucchini next time? If you use fresh pumpkin puree I recommend straining it with a coffee filter over a fine mesh strainer before using it in baked goods!
I did use fresh pumpkin puree. Will try to strain it next time and squeeze out the water from zucchini. Nevertheless, these muffins are so yummy!! Thank you 🙂