These grain free blueberry zucchini and carrot muffins are the perfect way to enjoy a truly healthy muffin while sneaking in some vegetables. As I grow as a cook, I find myself becoming more adventurous. I follow a more traditional/paleo lifestyle, and it works really well for me. I have tons of energy, my weight is stable in spite of my inconsistent workout routine (being a mom gets in the way sometimes), and it enables me to eat things like muffins every now and then. In living a whole food centered lifestyle I noticed my kids feeling like they are missing out of yummy looking things others eat. That is the last thing I want for them! So I am now on a mission to create deliciously nutrition-packed versions of treats they desire.
First up is blueberry muffins. The criteria was delicious (duh), high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats. I want their taste buds happy and their tummies full after just one. I believe I did a great job in this recipe. It’s sweet, but not sickeningly so, great texture, and moist. Zucchini and carrots are mild in flavor thus making them easy to sneak into all kinds of things, this recipe is no exception. I chose coconut flour because it requires so much moisture and is high in fiber. Honey is my sweetener of choice and pairs well with the moisture requirement of coconut flour. The recipe is really quite simple and my kids had fun making them with me. So not only did we cook together, they were excited to eat the fruits of their labor.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.
This recipe is paleo, grain free, refined sugar-free, and soy free.
Extra note: While I and many taste testers (thank you interpreting co-workers) found the muffins absolutely delicious, one tester said they preferred a sweeter muffin. If you are in the sweeter muffin camp, I would add an extra 1/3 cup cane sugar or honey.
Paleo Blueberry Zucchini and Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda or baking powder works as well
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter or 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup grated zucchini about 4-5 inches of a zucchini
- 1 large peeled carrot about 1/3 cup
- 1/3 cup raw honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries try to get organic if you can
- 1/4 cup almond milk or any milk will work, even water.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In one small bowl, mix dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Using a cheese grater, grate zucchini and carrot.
- In a large bowl mix eggs, grated veggies, honey, almond milk and vanilla extract together well.
- Add coconut flour to wet ingredients and mix well.
- Fold in blueberries.
- Line cupcake tin with liners and fill each liner to the top. Cook for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from tin and let cool completely. Store in fridge or freezer.
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yum! This sounds amazing! I allergic to eggs…I wonder what I can use instead? Im going to find out! What a great snack for kids..thanks for this!
My kids really liked these. I actually plan on developing an oat based version of these muffins using chia eggs (1 tbsp chia seeds to 3 tbsp water and let gel before adding to the recipe).
OMG. This recipe is very good and easy. I will do it again! My husband is picky, believe it or not, he ate it faster than me!! Thank you, Marian!!
That makes me so happy to hear!!! Thank you for sharing with me!
yum – this looks great! I love the ingredient list! I don’t do much baking but this looks pretty uncomplicated and healthy. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve tried baking with coconut flour before it didn’t turn out. This recipe looks good! However, I have to be very careful with sweeteners, even honey. I wonder if zylitol or another sugar alcohol would work. Obviously you have to use a lot less.
Something to play with!
Coconut flour requires a liquid sweetener or it will turn out very dry. I do plan on making an oat version of these where a dry sweetener like xylitol would work better.
Thank you for the recipe. It looks delicious! I enjoy hearing about how healthy eating turns into fun for the kids!
This looks absolutely delicious and not difficult to make. I love baking from scratch and this looks like a lovely way to indulge while keeping a health conscious mindset. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this recipe and giving some tips on coconut flour. I have yet to cook/bake with coconut flour, so good to now. I usually avoid muffins due to gluten and sugar content, but this recipe looks good, I’ll have to give it a try.
Thank you for this! I love to bake because I love to see the smiles it brings people. But I lost that love because I couldn’t bake things that I knew could possibly harm someone. I look forward to trying this!
Please let me know how they turn out whenever you try the recipe 🙂
Wow! These muffins look delicious! I love anything with blueberry. Thanks!
Please let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Hi Marian.. just curious on the virgin coconut oil, you didn’t mention it in your instructions, although I used it. My muffins cake out very oily (underneath the muffin wrapper). I’m thinking the virgin oil had a lot to do with it .
Thank you
Hi Liz,
That’s very interesting. Can you tell me what part of the country you live in? I haven’t had that experience and would like to know how to fix it. Thank you for your feedback!
I made these this afternoon. They turned out perfectly. I added more blueberries, and less honey. This was the first time that I’ve cooked with coconut flour. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience making this recipe! I’m glad your first experience with coconut flour was a good one.
Looks delicious. Do you think fresh blueberries would work?
Most definitely.
Do you melt the butter / coconut oil and add in with the wet ingredients? or do you make it like a pastry dough and cut it in with the dry ingredients?
Great question. I add it to the wet ingredients.
In you opinion, if I were to use carrot pulp from a juicer, instead of shredded carrot, should I increase the amount of one of the other wet ingredients?
You shouldn’t need to no
Does it have to be coconut flour? Can it be any GF flour?
Thanks!
Hi Jamie! Coconut flour has completely different ratios than regular gf flour. If you used reg flour it would be 1 1/2 cups gf flour, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup butter or 1/3 cup coconut oil. I hope that helps!
These were SO good! They’re the best GF/DF muffins I’ve ever had!!! I’m recently GF/DF and the store bought stuff is expensive, plus I love baking, so I want to make my own substitutes. There have been quite a few failures over the months, but not so with this one! I did sub unrefined virgin coconut oil for the butter and they turned out perfectly! There wasn’t even a noticeable taste of coconut as there sometimes is when the unrefined is used. I sought a recipe like this specifically because I didn’t want to spend $5 on 4 Veggie Made Great muffins. I almost cried happy tears when I took the first bite. I’ve eaten a few but put the rest in the freezer for later. They’re moist and delicious and wonderfully flavored! Thank you!
Ahh that makes me SO happy! These are a long time favorite of mine for the very same reason. I’m so very happy you love them as much as I do.