
Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
Get It NowThis post may contain affiliate links, which help keep this content free. (Full disclosure)
We’re loving our Europe travels right now (are you following along on Instagram stories?!), but I do miss zucchini. They don’t seem to have it as much in restaurants in Austria, where we’ve been spending our time. The good news? I have a batch of these low carb paleo zucchini muffins waiting for me in the freezer at home! Chocolate chip zucchini muffins with coconut flour are the perfect balance between healthy and decadent low carb dessert.
With zucchini season in full swing, I’ve been loving all the low carb zucchini recipes. I didn’t do a full zucchini week like I did in 2017, but I did share quite a few zucchini dishes again this year. I have tons of them on the blog, but here are a few favorites:
- Parmesan zucchini fries – one of the first ones I published, and still one of the most popular
- Chicken zucchini casserole – a new one you guys have been loving
- Almond flour zucchini bread – so moist and sweet!
- The ultimate guide to zucchini noodles – probably my absolute fave way to enjoy zucchini!
- Keto zucchini lasagna – with a twist you might not have seen before… and fewer carbs than other versions
- Healthy oven baked zucchini chips – crispy low carb zucchini chips without breading!
You might notice that most of these are savory, but zucchini is delicious for sweet recipes, too. Like these low carb zucchini muffins with coconut flour!
Are Zucchini Muffins Healthy?
Most people looking for zucchini muffin recipes are looking for a healthier dessert. Of course, putting zucchini in there does help. Still, most are still made with sugar and white flour… not exactly healthy and definitely not low carb.
But not these. My low carb paleo zucchini muffins are sugar-free, grain-free, and you can actually feel good about eating them. Just 4g net carbs in an entire muffin!
How To Make Paleo Zucchini Muffins
This chocolate chip zucchini muffins recipe can make low carb zucchini muffins or paleo zucchini muffins. The difference is just a matter of a couple ingredient options.
For the fat in these muffins, you can use ghee or coconut oil. I much prefer ghee here, because otherwise the flavor turns out too coco-nutty, with both the coconut flour and coconut oil.
Many people that can’t tolerate dairy do fine with ghee, since the milk proteins aren’t there, but if that doesn’t work, you can try the coconut oil. If you do, I highly recommend using butter-flavored coconut oil like this. The flavor (and the entire product) is 100% natural, low carb, keto, paleo and vegan.
For the sweetener, I used my usual erythritol, which is natural. It’s perfect for keto and low carb lifestyles, and some paleo followers are fine with it since it’s natural. If you’re stricter paleo but don’t mind sugar, try coconut sugar instead. My guide on sugar alternatives can help with choosing sweeteners, then you can use the sweetener conversion chart to swap them out if needed.
Now, just a few tips for making the perfect low carb zucchini muffins…
No need to squeeze the zucchini.
Unlike many recipes that use shredded zucchini, there’s no squeezing required for making these paleo zucchini muffins. This is because coconut flour is very absorbent. However, if your shredded zucchini feels very wet, you can pat it gently with paper towels.
The batter will look more dry than you might expect.
Don’t be surprised – this batter looks fairly dry. I’ve tried adding more liquid to it and trust me – don’t! You end up with mushy muffins. Coconut flour is strange like that. It should look like this:
That looks pretty dry, BUT make sure it feels fairly “wet” and soft. It’s easy to stir and press together without being firm. You should pack it into the rounded large cookie scoop for filling the muffin cups:
Fill the batter to the top of the muffin cups.
Low carb zucchini muffins with coconut flour don’t rise very much. So, you need to fill the muffin liners pretty full.
Mix it up with add-ins if you like.
Don’t want chocolate chips? Skip ’em. You can add some nuts if you’re not nut-free, or otherwise some seeds if you like those in your muffins. Any other extract you like will work, too.
Just stick to add-ins that are either very concentrated or just dry pieces. Adding something that has a lot of liquid, or is very dry, will throw off the batter consistency.
How To Store Low Carb Zucchini Muffins
Storing paleo zucchini muffins is pretty much like storing any other muffins. However, they do go bad a little quicker than some others, due to the fresh zucchini in there.
You can keep the chocolate chip zucchini muffins on the counter for a couple days, in the fridge for 5 to 7 days, or freeze for longer. Here’s more info on freezing…
How To Freeze Zucchini Muffins
Can you freeze zucchini muffins? Yes, you can!
Before freezing the low carb zucchini muffins, let them cool to room temperature first. Then, you can place them in a freezer bag and place in the freezer.
Some people prefer to let them freeze in the muffin tin first, then transfer to a bag when solid, just to ensure they don’t get crushed. It all depends on how packed your freezer is.
When you are ready to eat your delicious chocolate chip zucchini muffins, you can then warm them up in the microwave or oven, right out of the freezer. Alternatively, you can let them thaw in the fridge or on the counter. They are pretty flexible!
Low Carb Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Chocolate Chip Low Carb Paleo Zucchini Muffins Recipe
For the most delicious low carb zucchini muffins or paleo zucchini muffins, try this chocolate chip zucchini muffins recipe with coconut flour! It's sugar-free, keto, nut-free, and dairy-free.
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with 12 parchment paper liners.
-
In a large bowl, stir together the coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder, and sea salt.
-
Add the shredded zucchini, eggs, and vanilla. Stir together until combined. Add the melted coconut oil and stir again until smooth.
-
Fold in the chocolate chips. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
-
Divide the batter among the parchment liners, filling them all the way to the top. If desired, you can dot the tops with more chocolate chips.
-
Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and firm on top. Cool to room temperature in the pan, then on a wire rack. You can eat them warm, but texture is better if you let them cool first.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram, or in our Facebook support group, too - I'd love to see it!
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 muffin
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Want to save this recipe?
Create a free account to save your favorite recipes!
Sign Up To Save Recipes© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We'd LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
47 Comments
Melanie Sisco
0Can monkfruit be used instead of Erythritol? And can a different flour be used?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Melanie, To use monk fruit, I suggest using my Keto Sweetener Guide to get the correct amount. I do not suggest using another flour. Not all keto flours translate the same in recipes.
E
0WOW!!
That is The Best muffin I ever had- in any version. I don’t like too sweet, so I still reduced a bit of sugar, used dark chocolate chips- 0 sugar,, but I added extra blueberries:))) they look awesome, baked beautifully, YUMYI. DEFINITELY will make them again.
Stella
0Thank you for such a wonderful recipe, they’re absolutely DELICIOUS!!
Nancy
0I have bookmarked this recipe and made it several times. Love that I don’t have to squeeze zucchini. So moist and yummy tasting. The only issue I had the first time I made it was that muffins stuck to the paper liners and I hate wasting these delicious muffins. I just sprayed my pan very well and no more problems.
Jessica
0These are good! I might try them with cinnamon next time instead of choco chips.
Jay Todgham
0Any substitutes for zucchini perhaps more almond flour
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jay, This recipe doesn’t call for almond flour, it will not work in this recipe. If you would like to make muffins without zucchini, I suggest following this recipe for blueberry muffins and replace the blueberries with chocolate chips.
Jessica
0I’ve never made any baked goods with zucchini before, but you have so many good recipes that I might have to try these too!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jessica, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised! Let us know what you think when you make them!
Anka
0What can I replace the erythrol with? Maple syrup, dates? Many thanks
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Anka, If you are wanting to use a natural sugar instead of the keto sweeteners, then coconut sugar is our best option.
Doreen Williams
0Way too much Ghee. They were very oily and had an oily after taste.
Cristina
0Love this recipe. Muffins came out moist and flavourful. Love that the zucchini didn’t need to be squeezed. My family loves plain zucchini bread so I omitted the chocolate chips and added 1 tsp if cinnamon instead. Will be a regular recipe while the garden is providing so many zucchini! Thank you!
Jessica
01 tsp of cinnamon instead of the choco chips was a great idea! Thanks!
Donna
0I don’t always have the best luck with keto baked goods; they usually turn out so dry and dense. But these muffins were delicious and so moist. Only substitution I made was to use butter instead of ghee because butter was all I had on hand. And I was far too lazy to make a trip to the store to replenish the ghee. I also added just a sprinkle of cinnamon to the batter. These will definitely be made again. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Raquel
0I’ve been looking for a good chocolate chip muffin recipe for my son who is a type 1 diabetic. These were a total hit! Thank you!
Helene
0Could I replace the eggs in this recipe with chia seeds 6tbsp and water do you think?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Helene, I have no tested this method with this recipe, but the recipe should still work.
Val
0I love these low carb, high fiber muffins.
I added 1 teas. Pumpkin pie spice because I find the cinnamon to help my blood sugar.
I eat these in the morning with mashed avo
on top. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Lindsey Willson
0These look amazing. Thank you for including this veggie packed recipe.
Celeste
0I love zucchini recipes. Can’t wait to make this again!
Nab
0Made these but came out too wet.
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Nab, if your zucchini is especially wet that can happen. If that’s the case, pat it lightly with a paper towel first.
Alex
0Hi! My son is on a very strict keto diet and needs a 3:1 ratio of fat to carb + protein.
Do you absolutely need the 6 eggs? Could I lower to 5 and still have a good outcome?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Alex, I haven’t tried that specific amount of eggs, but typically in baking recipes reducing wet ingredients will not produce a good outcome. You might be able to reduce the eggs by one and compensate with more fat, but I haven’t done it to say for sure.
Arionne
0I made these but mine came out way too wet. Next time I will definitely pat the zucchinis dry. My kids are waiting with baited breath to try them because they smell so yummy. They are calling them Grinch muffins since the green tint came through.
Christina
0I’m not a fan of coconut, can I sub almond flour for the coconut flour? If so, is it an even conversion? Thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Christina, You can’t substitute them, they work very differently. If you want muffins with almond flour try these keto blueberry muffins instead and you can swap the blueberries for chocolate chips if you want to.
Kimmora
0Can I use Monk Fruit in the place of the Erythritol?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kimmora, Yes, you can if it’s a monk fruit blend. Check the conversion calculator here.
Jennifer
0I followed the recipe using ghee (made a double batch). Next time I will try coconut oil as the muffins have a strong ghee flavor which I didn’t care for too much. Not very sweet, but nice and moist. I suggest to form the tops smooth since the batter doesn’t really lay well and ends up with rough patches that cook to little crisps.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you for the feedback, Jennifer. You can definite taste the flavor of the fat used (ghee, butter or coconut oil), so I recommend choosing the one that you like best.
Carrie Smith
0These were absolutely delicious. I prefer this recipe to any wheat flour recipe I’ve made. I only put chocolate chips in half of the muffins and actually prefer the ones without. I also used grass-fed butter as I was out of ghee. Thank you for a phenomenal recipe!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy that you liked the muffins, Carrie! Please come back again soon!
Sheri Davis
0I used kerry gold instead of ghee and added some nutmeg. Very good recipe!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy to hear that, Sheri! Have a great day!
jenny
0These were easy to make and delicious!! Keeper!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked it, Jenny! Thanks for stopping by!
Diana
0Can you use regular butter to make these?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Diana, Yes, you can do that.
Linda
0Easy to make. One over size zucchini from the garden and shredded made more than the 2 cups needed, and I have enough for several more batches. I didn’t have ghee, but read online that you can substitute unsalted butter(melted), which I did, and they baked up nicely. Filling the muffin liners with the batter to a nice rounded top worked well because they didn’t rise. I did wait until they cooled ( sorta) and when I broke them apart into 4ths, they held their consistency. They are tasty, and perfect along with my hot drink. I will make these again!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so glad you liked it, Linda! Thanks for stopping by!
Sandra Williams
0Thankyou so much. I’m new to eating gluten free and all this information is very helpful and very much appreciated.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0You are welcome, Sandra! Have a great day!
Evelyn LaTorre
0The ingredients weren’t listed!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Evelyn, The ingredients are above, right above the instructions on the recipe card.