Zucchini Cupcakes

These Healthy Zucchini Cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting are so delicious you won’t believe they are packed with vegetables.  They are super moist, have just a hint of spice and are topped off with a light and fluffy cinnamon buttercream frosting.  

Just a bit sweeter than a regular zucchini muffins recipe and topped with a sweet and creamy cinnamon buttercream frosting, there’s no denying these are meant to be dessert. But as desserts go, they are a super healthy choice. If you’re in the mood for something a little less sweet, you can also check out our Zucchini Bread.

The Best Healthy Zucchini Cupcakes

We recommend adding this recipe to your dessert repertoire as soon as possible.  If you’ve got a garden, this is a great way to use up some of that zucchini that just never seems to stop coming.  And if you’ve got picky eaters, you’ll have your kids eating their vegetables in no time.

Much like carrots, zucchini works like magic in baking, keeping these healthy zucchini cupcakes incredibly moist for days.  If you’ve never tried baking with zucchini, this recipe is a great place to start!

If you’re looking for more amazing cakes or muffins, be sure to try our Carrot Cake Recipe, Pumpkin Cake or Pineapple Cake. They can all be made into muffins too. And if you’re after more ways to use up zucchini, be sure to try our zucchini chips, zucchini fries, and zucchini bread recipe.

Key Ingredients

• Zucchini – you should wash and trim the ends off of your zucchini, but don’t peel before you grate.
• Sugar – this recipe calls for white granulated sugar.  You can also try with half brown sugar and half granulated sugar if you’d like.
• Orange Juice – this flavors the cupcakes and adds a bit more moisture.
• Almond Extract – almond tastes amazing with the spices in these cupcakes. If there is a nut allergy, this can be omitted.
• Flour – this recipe calls for all-purpose flour.  If you want to make the recipe a bit healthier, you can substitute half of the flour with white whole wheat flour. I don’t recommend substituting all of it, however, or they will turn out dry.
• Spices – we love to use cinnamon and ground cloves as they taste great with zucchini.  Allspice would also taste great.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda – these are what make your cupcakes rise in the oven.  

For Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:

• Butter – you’ll want this to be room temperature.  If you forget to pull it out ahead of time, you can microwave for about 5-10 seconds at a time just until soft (do not melt!).
• Cinnamon – cinnamon in the frosting gives the entire flavor profile of these cupcakes a boost. During the Fall, you could also substitute pumpkin pie spice.
• Powdered Sugar – you should always sift your powdered sugar to remove any lumps that have formed.
• Milk – you can substitute heavy cream or even evaporated milk if you’d like.

How to Make Zucchini Cupcakes

1. Combine the wet ingredients. In a large bowl or electric stand mixer, combine the shredded zucchini, melted butter, sugar, eggs, orange juice, and almond extract and mix to combine.
2. Mix in the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cloves until well-combined. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir until all the ingredients are combined.  Do not overmix!
3. Bake. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and lightly spray with pan spray. Fill each of the cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes.
4. Cool and frost. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack until ready to frost.  They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature if you aren’t ready to frost them right away.

Tips for Piping Like a Pro

Sure, you can frost your Zucchini Cupcakes using a spoon or a spatula but it doesn’t take much more than a little practice to pipe them like a pro!  Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Play around with tips to see which you like, but our recommendation for a simple design would be either a star or a round tip.  
• You can purchase disposable and reusable piping bags, or in a pinch you can use a plastic freezer bag.  In the case of a freezer bag, place the piping tip that you have chosen to use inside the empty freezer bag and let it fall to one corner.  Cut the corner so that the tip stays inside the bag but the bag isn’t in the way of the tip.  Fill with buttercream and pipe away!
• It’s best not to overfill your piping bag because your hands will warm up the frosting.  
• If you mess up, just carefully scrape the buttercream back into the bowl and try again!  

Recipe Variations

• Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes – simply substitute ½ of a cup of the all-purpose flour with cocoa powder and toss a cup of chocolate chips into the batter, and you’ve got yourself some zucchini chocolate cupcakes.
• Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – the cream cheese frosting in this Cream Cheese Frosting would taste amazing on these cupcakes.  
• Add dried fruit and nuts.  Walnuts, pecans, dried currants, raisins or dried cranberries are all great additions to zucchini cupcakes so feel free to mix and match.  We recommend adding no more than 1 ½ cups of extra mix-ins total.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing Instructions

• Refrigerator: store your leftover frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.  We recommend bringing them to room temperature slightly before eating.
• Freezer: unfrosted cupcakes freeze great for up to 2 months.  Store in an airtight container or freezer bag and thaw out in the fridge overnight or on the countertop for a few hours before you plan to frost and serve. 

More Quick and Easy Dessert Recipes

• Carrot Cupcakes Recipe
• Peanut Butter Cookies
• Twisted Cinnamon Bread
• Fruit Pizza
• Coconut Filled Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Double Chocolate Einkorn Brownies
• Orange Dreamcicle Sugar Cookie Bars
• Pumpkin Baked Rice Pudding
• More Dessert Recipes
• More Summer Recipes

These Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting are super moist, have just a hint of spice and are a breeze to throw together.   They’re also so delicious that you won’t believe they are loaded with vegetables!