Healthy Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins (Low Sugar!)
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These Healthy Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins are dairy-free, low in sugar, and packed with veggies! These easy muffins can be prepped in a food processor and are ready in 30 minutes! Easily turn them into a baby-led weaning recipe by omitting the maple syrup.
I have to admit, I was hesitant to put sweet potatoes in a muffin recipe for fear that they would not taste very good. Well, I was VERY pleasantly surprised with how these Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins turned out! I love making healthy muffins and having a nutritious snack option for my kids when we’re out and about or for their school lunches.
Some other muffin recipes that my kids love are Spinach Banana Muffins for Toddlers (No Added Sugar!), Healthy Blender Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, and Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
- Healthy – The best part about these muffins is that they are jam-packed with nutrients from the sweet potatoes, zucchini, and banana!
- Baby-led weaning and toddler-friendly muffins – These zucchini muffins with sweet potato are great for baby-led weaning, as long as you omit the pecan topping. You can also omit the maple syrup or replace it with 1/2 of a banana. These are a great healthy snack for toddlers, too!
- Portable snack – These muffins are an easy snack to pack in lunchboxes, in the stroller, for playdates, or on road trips!
Recipe Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make these Healthy Zucchini Muffins:
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet Potato: You can’t taste the sweet potato flavor, in case you were worried about that (as I was!). If anything, the sweet potatoes add to the sweetness of the recipe.
- Eggs: If you need to make this a vegan muffin recipe, you can try making either a chia egg or a flax egg instead of using regular eggs. I have not personally tried this out, so I can’t speak to how they’ll turn out! To make the chia or flaxseed eggs, simply combine 2 tablespoons chia seeds or flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Allow it to sit for about 5 minutes until it coagulates, then add it to the food processor as you would regular eggs.
- Maple Syrup: You can try reducing the amount to 1/4 cup or not using it at all, particularly if you’re serving it as a baby-led weaning recipe. You can try replacing it with 1/2 of a banana more than the recipe calls for (so 1 1/2 bananas total).
- Almond Milk. You can use any preferred plant-based milk or regular milk here!
How to Make Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins: STEP BY STEP
For the full recipe with the exact ingredients, scroll down to the printable recipe card below!
STEP 1: Cook sweet potato
In a medium bowl, cover diced sweet potato with water and microwave for 5 minutes or until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain the water. Add sweet potato to a food processor.
STEP 2: Blend
Add all of the remaining ingredients, except for pecans, to the food processor and blend until just smooth.
STEP 3: Fill muffin cups
Scoop the batter into a muffin tin lined with non-stick muffin liners so they are each about 3/4 full. (Optional) Top each muffin with a sprinkle of toasted chopped pecans.
STEP 4: Bake
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Make it baby-friendly – Omit the pecans. You can also omit or reduce the maple syrup. If you omit the maple syrup, you could try adding a 1/2 of a banana more to help add a little sweetness. I referred to Solid Starts when I began introducing solids to my kids. Their app was VERY helpful for baby-led weaning.
- Freeze – Freeze muffins in a freezer-safe storage container or bag for up to 3 months for an easy snack down the road.
Storage & Reheating
- Fridge: Store muffins in an air-tight container or ziploc bag in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. I love warming my muffins up for about 20 seconds and slathering a little butter on them!
- Freezer: Allow muffins to cool completely before storing. Once cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe air-tight container or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw on the countertop at room temperature or heat in the microwave until heated through. You may want to heat them in the oven for a few minutes to get them a little crispy/firm on the outside again.
- Reheating: From the fridge – Warm up muffins in the microwave for about 20 seconds. I love slathering some peanut butter or butter on them! From the freezer – Thaw on the countertop at room temperature or heat in the microwave until heated through. You may want to heat them in the oven for a few minutes to get them a little crispy/firm on the outside again.
Additions & Substitutions
Additions:
- Chia Seeds
- Chocolate Chips
- Raisins or dried cranberries
- Walnuts
Substitutions:
- Egg – Replace eggs with chia eggs or flax eggs by mixing 2 tablespoons chia seeds/flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then add to the food processor as you would regular eggs.
- Maple Syrup – You can reduce or omit the maple syrup, or you can replace it for 1/2 a banana or 1/2 cup of applesauce.
- Almond Milk – You can use any milk of your choice for this recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, these are great muffins for babies! They are a great way to introduce new foods and vegetables to your little ones. Make sure you omit the pecan topping for this though! You can try making them without the maple syrup, as the banana should act as enough of a natural sweetener for them. Some other great baby-led weaning muffins to try are Spinach Banana Muffins and Apple Banana Oat Toddler Muffins.
Yes, these are a healthy toddler muffin choice! My toddler LOVES these muffins! If you want to limit the sugar even more, you could try reducing the amount of maple syrup to 1/4 cup or omit it altogether and experiment with whether or not the banana makes the muffins sweet enough for your child.
I personally haven’t tried making these vegan yet. However, you can try to make them with chia or flax eggs instead of the eggs. To do this, mix 2 tablespoons chia seeds or flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoons water and let sit for about 5 minutes until it forms a gel-like texture. Add this to the food processor just as you would regular eggs.
I have not attempted to make these gluten-free, so I can’t speak to how the muffins would turn out. To make them gluten-free, you’ll need to use a gluten-free flour – I would recommend using 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour and not something like almond flour.
Tools For This Recipe
- Food processor or mixing bowls if you don’t have a processor.
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I hope you love these Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins! If you make it, be sure to leave a rating below so I know how you liked it! Enjoy!
Healthy Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweet potato , peeled and diced (about 1 small sweet potato)
- 1 banana , mashed
- ¾ cup zucchini , shredded
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup 100% pure maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut oil , melted (microwave 1 cup of solid coconut oil to get 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons almond milk, plain and unsweetened (or any preferred milk)
- ¾ cup pecans, toasted and chopped (for topping muffins)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with non-stick muffin liners and set aside.
- In a small bowl, cover diced sweet potato with water and cook for 5 minutes or until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain the water. Add sweet potatoes to the food processor.
- Add remaining ingredients to the food processor, except for pecans, and blend until just smooth.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin liners so they are about 3/4 full. (Optional) Top each muffin with sprinkles of chopped toasted pecans.
- Bake in the oven for 20 mintues or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of a muffin.
I made these with extra zucchini, olive oil instead of coconut oil, and used about half the amount of maple syrup. My toddler loves them, and they turned out to be pretty tasted. Mine needed a couple minutes longer in the oven probably because of the extra zucchini I added. Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Shelby! Thank you so much for sharing the modifications you tried and how that turned out. I’m so happy your toddler loves them!! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and rate the recipe. I really appreciate it! 🙂