Some mornings I just don’t have: (i) time to cook myself breakfast; or (ii) the patience to cook myself breakfast. Instead of skipping breakfast and ending up hangry (hungry/angry) by midday, I like to be able to just grab something like these Grain Free Zucchini Muffins from the fridge and be on my way.
They’re so easy to make; I just throw them together on Sunday night so they’re ready for the week ahead.
The muffins are grain-free, gluten-free and also nut-free (for anyone with allergies).
I add some grated sharp cheddar cheese to the mixture to give the muffins a beautiful savoury flavour, but if you don’t eat dairy, you could just leave it out and perhaps add a couple of spoonfuls of tahini instead.
Serves
12 muffins
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
40 mins
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini (about 500g)
- 150g sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 x 20ml tablespoon chia seeds
- Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Method
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1Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a muffin tray with muffin cases or squares of baking paper.
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2Grate the zucchini and cheese into a large mixing bowl. Add the chia seeds, parsley, coconut flour, a good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper and mix everything to combine. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and crack the eggs into the well. Lightly beat the eggs with a spoon and then pour in the olive oil. Mix everything together until well combined.
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3Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the muffins are browned and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
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4I store the muffins in an airtight container in the fridge (and reheat them briefly in the oven or the microwave when needed).
Notes
If you prefer muffins with a more traditional muffin-like texture, you might like to try my Buckwheat Zucchini Muffins (which use buckwheat flour, so they are still gluten-free).
These look good! Do you have to squeeze the water out of the courgettes first?
Hi Lucy, I didn’t squeeze out the water. The coconut flour absorbs the liquid x
I just had them for lunch! I like them, although after storing them in the fridge and not reheating they can get a bit soggy.
Hi San, glad you like them! Zucchini holds a lot of moisture, so leftovers are best reheated in the oven or microwave.
Hey!
Do you think they would work without the cheese?
🙂
Hi Caroline, I haven’t tested them without the cheese but you could try just leaving it out. It may mean that the recipe yields less muffins. x
Olive oil, not extra virgin olive oil right? Would coconut oil work as well?
Hi Tamara, I actually used extra virgin olive oil because that’s what I had on hand, but you could use plain olive oil. Whatever you have at home! Coconut oil would also work, you’d just have to melt it to combine with the mixture and it may give a slightly sweeter flavour to the muffins.
These were delicious! I tried once with extra v olive oil and once with coconut oil. Def tasted better with olive oil as you suggest 🙂 x
Thanks so much Tamara, great to hear! 🙂 x
Hi there,
I just made a big batch of these, they’re yum! DO you know if they freeze well?
thanks
Hi Kate, so glad you like them! I think they’d freeze well and I would heat them up in the oven or the microwave (just in case they get a bit soggy when defrosting).
Great, thank you!