Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins Recipe

We’re about to take your pumpkin game up a notch with a twist you didn’t see coming – Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins loaded with chocolate chips!  It’s all the cozy vibes of fall wrapped up in a super moist and fluffy muffin recipe! These delicious pumpkin zucchini muffins are quick and easy to make!

This recipe was originally written in 2018 and updated with additional images and text in 2023. The recipe is the same!

Every spring I feel extra ambitious and plant way too much zucchini! It’s hard not to after a long winter. Then in late summer, I wondered what I was thinking!

When it gets that time of year, I’m always looking for a few more ways to use up the abundance of zucchini from the garden. Sometimes my boys turn their noses up at having a healthy veggie in their muffins. There is NO complaining about zucchini pumpkin muffins!

They have all the cozy pumpkin spices in them, plus chocolate chips, and zucchini! The zucchini makes them moist, fluffy, and tender. They are the perfect fall comfort food! I mean really, all pumpkin recipes are perfect for fall!

Be sure to check out my other delicious muffins recipes; rhubarb muffins, peanut butter banana muffins, chocolate chip banana oatmeal muffins, and pear muffins! Muffins make the perfect on-the-go breakfast or snack!

One of my readers left this comment! I think she pretty much summed it up!

“These are my favorite muffins – ever. I have made them at least 10 times now, I figured I needed to leave a comment!! One of my kids is extremely picky and I can get him to eat veggies via a chocolate chip muffin 🙂 Win-Win! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this recipe. WE LOVE IT!” Marie

Why This Recipe Works

There are a few things that I love about this pumpkin muffin recipe over some of the other ones I’ve tried. I think you’re going to fall in love with them too!

• Quick and easy recipe! Grating and using a paper towel to wring zucchini is a pain. It gets stringy zucchini all over the cheese grater that’s not easy to wash off. When you start grating zucchini it releases water and that water goes everywhere! I blend the zucchini for this recipe and it works perfectly! It also makes the recipe faster and easier to make! It’s a great way to save time and effort!
• Tried and true! These muffins turn out perfectly every single time. They are so much easier to make than zucchini bread because the baking time is shorter. It’s also easier to get muffins to bake just right without a sinking top, which happens with quick bread recipes.
• Customizable! It’s easy to customize this recipe to your taste. I have some suggestions for you in just a minute! 
• Freezes well! These muffins taste just like fresh out-of-the-oven muffins even after they’ve been in the freezer. It’s the perfect breakfast idea when you simply don’t have time to make breakfast! I ALWAYS keep my freezer stocked with these muffins for busy mornings. 

Ingredients

You will need basic pantry ingredients for this recipe. You’ll also need zucchini. Let’s talk about some options for substitutions just in case you do not have everything you need on hand.

• Zucchini: You’ll need about 2 medium-sized zucchinis
• Pumpkin Puree: Be sure it’s pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
• Sugar: Granulated sugar and brown sugar
• Large Eggs
• Oil: Canola or vegetable oil are my favorites. You could also use olive oil.
• Vanilla Extract
• All-Purpose Flour: I haven’t tried making this recipe with gluten-free flour. I have tried using half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. They turned out great. The texture is a bit more dense. 
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Spices: Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground ginger (or use pumpkin spice)
• Chocolate Chips: Semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or mini chocolate chips.

How to Prepare Zucchini For Baking

Although shredding zucchini is the most popular way to prepare zucchini in a baked recipe, I’ve learned a little trick to make that whole process even easier! Fast and easy is the name of my game. It’s how I survive from day to day!

Here’s what you need to know to successfully blend zucchini instead of grating it.

• 1 cup shredded zucchini equals 5/8 a cup of zucchini puree. So, if the recipe calls for 1 cup shredded zucchini you need 1/2 a cup + 1/8 a cup of zucchini puree.
• 2 cups of shredded zucchini = 1 1/4 cup zucchini puree! See we are actually using all that 5th grade fraction practice!

I haven’t tried to use pureed zucchini in cookies or savory recipes. I think it will add a lot of moisture and drastically alter the texture of the cookies.

However, I’ve substituted zucchini puree in cake, bread, and muffin recipes and it works great!

How to Make Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

This recipe is a simple, basic zucchini muffin recipe. I did make it into a very easy pumpkin muffins recipe by using blended zucchini puree instead of grated zucchini. It works perfectly and saves so much time!

Let’s talk about the instructions.

Tips for Success

Variations

I really do love these muffins exactly as they are! If you want to experiment with them, here are a few ideas!

• Nutty Crunch: Add chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds for a delightful crunch and nutty flavor. Mix it in the batter or add to the top of the muffins.
• Cream Cheese Frosting: Frost the tops of the muffins with a cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting for my pumpkin cream cheese bars would be perfect.
• Spiced Streusel: Top each muffin with a sprinkle of cinnamon-spiced streusel for added texture and flavor. See my rhubarb muffins recipe to see how to make a streusel topping. Or check out my cinnamon muffins to see how to make an oat crumb topping.
• White Chocolate Chips: Use white chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips.

Storage Suggestions

To be honest, I have to make a batch of these muffins and stick them in the freezer without my family knowing about it, or there won’t be any leftovers for freezing!

I LOVE freezing these muffins and popping them out for later. It’s one of my go-to take-in treats for sharing with new moms, or friends that need something special! 

• Room Temperature: Store the cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
• Refrigeration: If you want to keep them for a longer period, refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• Freezing: These muffins freeze well! Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them in a single layer in a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen muffins in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
• Reheating: To make pumpkin zucchini muffins taste like you just made them, pop them in the microwave for a few seconds before serving. Slather them with butter and enjoy!

Can muffins be made into a loaf of quick bread?

Yes! It’s easy to convert a muffin recipe into a loaf!

Because loaves of bread are thicker they will need longer to cook through. Decrease the oven temperature by about 50 degrees. Expect to bake a loaf of quick bread for about 60 minutes. You might want to also move the oven rack to the center position in the oven.

Depending on how many muffins you are making, and on how full the muffins will be will affect how many loaves of bread can be made from one muffin recipe. For most muffin recipes that produce 24 muffins you will be able to make one loaf and about 12 muffins. Be sure to bake the muffins for a shorter amount of time than the loaf!

FAQs

Other Zucchini Recipes

Once the zucchini in my garden is on I’m looking for a million ways to use it zucchini! Here are a few of our favorite zucchini recipes.

• Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips
• Chocolate Zucchini Cookies
• Healthy Zucchini Cookies with Oats
• Zucchini Brownies with Frosting
• Zucchini Meatballs (So good)
• Zucchini Salsa

Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins are extra moist muffins, full of pumpkin spices, and studded with plenty of chocolate chips! Double this recipe and stick a few dozen in the freezer for breakfast, brunch, snacks, or even dessert later on!