A couple weeks ago, I read Nicole’s post on Cooking After Five for Orange-Scented Olive Oil Muffins. In her post, Nicole mentions she likes to bake muffins for road trips. [Insert glass shattering] I’d never considered baking muffins for road trips, but it makes so much sense! What a wonderful idea. And great timing, too, since me and “the fam” have headed to Las Vegas for a week!
As usual, I bookmarked Nicole’s recipe…but Orange-Scented Olive Oil Muffins turned into Sweet Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, as I had some extra zucchinis from the Farmers Market that needed to be used.
Speaking of cupcakes, ever wonder the difference between muffins and cupcakes? Well, I have. Turns out there’s actually some controversy over this topic. In short: frosting does not a cupcake make. Crazy, I know! After doing my diligent research, I found that cupcakes are considered “little cakes” while muffins are more like bread. Further, cupcakes are more of a dessert food, are lighter in weight and, generally, have lots of decorations whereas muffins are heavier, tend to contain fruits, chocolates and/or nuts and are usually not iced.
Overall, the best description I found was this: If you threw a cupcake against the wall, you would hear something of a “poof!” If you threw a muffin, you would hear a “thud!” Awesome.
Given that distinction, however, I’m pretty sure this recipe for zucchini cupcakes is actually for muffins, but I will let you take that up with Martha Stewart, as that is where I found it.
Either way, they are a super tasty sweet treat. Just be sure to eat them within a day or so because they tend to dry out and lose their muffin-y-ness any later than that.
I’ve also used this frosting for Carrot Cake and it was delish. It’s very rich and smooth.
Looking for a sweet muffin recipe that is also healthy? These Sweet Zucchini Muffins With Greek Yogurt Frosting are fluffy and moist–and the answer to adding more vegetables to your day!
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (plus more for greasing pan)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 zucchini (10 ounces, 1 1/2 cups), coarsley grated
- 2 cups full-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray non-stick 12 muffin tin with cooking spray or line with liners.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Stir to combine.
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In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
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Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, and stir until smooth. The batter will resemble a cake-like batter consistency.
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Add the shredded zucchini, and fold into the mixture.
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Divide batter into prepared tin (I use an ice cream scoop) and bake for 20 minutes, or until tops spring back to the touch or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
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Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
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While muffins are baking, prepare the frosting. Stir together the Greek yogurt, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
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Once the muffins are cooled, spread the frosting over the top of the muffins.
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To store, refrigerate in a glass airtight container for up to 4 days.
Excited to try this. Made them the other day but they were a fail. I wasn’t thinking clearly, because I know better, but the bake time in the recipe is way too long. At 30 minutes they were completely over baked, would of been bricks at 40-45. I bake enough that I know better than to cook a cupcake that long, not sure where my brain was that day.. I would suggest you modify the bake time on these.
Super good:)
Funny…I made these exact same cupcakes…divine right?
http://inherchucks.com/2011/10/30/zucchini-part-2/
They are so good! 🙂
Hi Lacey,
I would like to thank you for posting such a delicious and wonderful recipe! I have been hunting for the “perfect” zucchini cupcake recipe, where I definitely found it here.
Thank you so much once again!
Happy cooking and baking 🙂
Hi Lacey … I was curious if I could substitute Agave Nectar for the brown sugar and confectioners’ sugar?
Also, how do you think the frosting would turn out if I used a non-dairy cream cheese…?
Love to know your thoughts,
Dairy & refined sugar-free Robin 🙂
Hi Robin! Very good questions! Unfortunately, I am not an expert with substituting those specific ingredients in my recipes. I think it would definitely be tricky, but mostly possible, to substitute all those ingredients, though I don’t know at what proportions. I would think the confectioners sugar would be tricky to substitute, as it is what makes the frosting harden. I wish I could be of more assistance, but I’d love to know if you try it out and how it goes! Good luck!
I just made these with my sister and we ate the whole batch! We added orange zest to the batter and orange juice to the icing for extra flavor and they were fab!
What a great addition — orange zest! Thanks so much for sharing, Francie! I’m glad you and your sister enjoyed them 🙂
I’ve always loved the idea of zucchini muffins but have never made them. These look great!! Perfect for a road trip. 🙂
Hi Nicole, thanks for stopping by! If you like zucchini bread, you’ll like these muffins/cupcakes too. Perfect for a road trip indeed….but minus the frosting cuz it gets too messy 🙂
These looks great. I’m always looking for zucchini recipes in the summer!
Hi SugarCooking, I hope you try out these cupcakes. They are a great use of zucchini…and for a summer snack. Thanks for stopping by!