Healthy flourless Oatmeal Banana Zucchini Muffins with no added sweetener for a healthy snack or breakfast! Made flourless using rolled oats, these healthy zucchini muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free and banana sweetened.

If you love healthy muffin recipes that are low in sugar like this one, you’ll also want to try my Grain-Free Morning Glory Muffin, Paleo Hummingbird Muffins, Low-Carb Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Muffins, and my Healthy Apple Muffins

Top down photo of a whole batch of banana zucchini muffins on a white backdrop with bananas and a zucchini squash to the side, along with a golden napkin.

These delicious Oatmeal Banana Zucchini Muffins are a direct descendent of my Healthy Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread

I had requests for a muffin version of that bread, and loved the idea of individual size grab and go portions so I set out to do some testing.

On the first recipe test, I tried leaving the muffins oil-free (like the bread), but they stuck to the muffin liners. Let’s face it – they were also a little dry.

In order to mitigate this, I decided to add a little fat in the form of avocado oil. I wanted to add as little oil as possible for the sake of keeping the calories and fat low, so I started with two tablespoons of oil. 

Amazingly, only two tablespoons was all it took!

We end up with the perfect crossover of banana muffins and zucchini muffins in one beautiful treat.

Horizontal image of a plate of zucchini chocolate chip muffins.

Why This Recipe Works:

All in all, this healthy zucchini muffin recipe is gluten-free, flourless, whole grain, contains no added sugar (except for the chocolate chips if you use them), and results in such a warm and inviting snack.

The muffins turn out plenty moist, peel from the papers like magic (no muffin bits left behind!) and are one of those recipes that will easily become a household staple.

A lovely source of complex carbohydrates without refined sugar, these muffins are great for those who pay attention to their blood sugar or their daily intake of macronutrients. 

In this sense, I find these healthy banana zucchini muffins to be a macro-friendly pre or post-workout snack as well as a scrumptious healthy dessert. 

They also travel well, so I took them on a weekend camping trip and they were so great for an easy snack.

Plus, adding some chocolate chips boosts the sweetness and makes them so addicting!

The best part is these healthy banana oatmeal muffins become even more flavorful as they sit! To me, they taste best three days after baking them.

Top down photo of healthy banana zucchini muffins on a white backdrop.

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients needed for these delicious easy banana zucchini muffins.

Ingredients for Oatmeal Banana Zucchini Muffins:

Bananas: Used for volume, moisture and sweetness, some ripe bananas effortlessly play a crucial role in these oatmeal banana zucchini muffins.

Be sure to use overripe bananas that have plenty of brown spots, as the riper they are the sweeter the muffins will taste.

Zucchini: Fresh zucchini gets grated up to bring a hidden vegetable feature as well as that unmistakable zucchini treat essence.

There’s no need to drain the excess moisture from shredded zucchini, as I’ve already taken account of their moisture in the recipe.

Eggs: A couple of eggs bring a great deal of rise to the muffins, and they become so nice and puffy during the baking process.

I haven’t tested the recipe using flax egg or chia eggs but my guess is the muffins would be very dense and have a raw texture in the center without making other adjustments to the recipe.

Nevertheless, let me know if you try an egg-free version in the comments section below.

Avocado Oil (or Olive Oil): Used to bring flavor and moisture to the muffins and ensure they don’t stick to the muffin papers, we add a small amount of avocado oil or olive oil.

You can also use melted coconut oil or melted butter if you prefer.

Rolled Oats: Old fashioned rolled oats are blended up in a high-speed blender to make your own oat flour, which is used as the base of the muffins.

Rather than using all-purpose flour or a gluten-free flour blend, we simply use whole oats! The texture ends up being remarkably fluffy yet dense at the same time for a satiating snack.

I use gluten-free sprouted oats, which are also glyphosate-free.

Baking Soda & Lemon Juice: Baking soda is used as the leavening agent to give the muffins a beautiful rise and ensure they hold together nicely. Adding an acid reacts with the baking soda, so I use a small amount of fresh lemon juice but have used various types of vinegar and lime juice for the same result.

Sea Salt and Ground Cinnamon: Salt enhances all of the flavors in these healthy muffins so that they shine through. Cinnamon brings that delightful warmth that is just so pleasant in baked goods. Be sure to add them both!

Chocolate Chips (Optional): Use your favorite chocolate chips for these chocolate chip zucchini muffins, or omit them altogether. I go with semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark chocolate chips, sugar-free chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips will all work just as well.

Zucchini muffin sliced in half on a plate to see the inside

Optional Additions:

  • If you love chopped nuts in your muffins, feel free to add ⅔ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.
  • Shredded coconut lovers, add up to ⅔ cup of shredded coconut for light texture and creamy flavor.
  • Replace the chocolate chips with raisins if you’d like.
  • Turn these muffins into a banana-only muffin by replacing the zucchini with one extra ripe banana.
  • Try replacing the oats with 1 1/2 cups to 1 2/3 cups of oat flour, whole wheat flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
  • For sweeter muffins, add anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1/3 cup of brown sugar, coconut sugar, or white sugar. You can also use maple syrup but I wouldn’t add more than 2 tablespoons to ensure the ratio of wet to dry doesn’t become off.
Horizontal top down photo of gluten-free zucchini muffins on a plate with a zucchini squash and bananas to the side.

Now that we’ve covered the healthy fresh ingredients in these zucchini banana bread muffins, let’s bake a batch!

How to Make Oatmeal Banana Zucchini Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with 9 muffin papers.

Pour two cups of rolled oats into a high-speed blender and blend until a flour forms. This will take about 20 to 30 seconds on a high power.

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl until creamy. 

Mashed bananas in a mixing bowl

Grate a medium-sized zucchini using a box grater and measure out 1 cup of grated zucchini.

Transfer the grated zucchini to the bowl with the mashed bananas, along with the eggs, vanilla extract, oil, and lemon juice. Mix everything together until well-combined (wet ingredients).

Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking soda, sea salt, and ground cinnamon) to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix until everything is well-combined. Stir in the chocolate chips (if adding).

Muffin batter with chocolate chips mixed in.

Pour the zucchini muffin batter into the lined muffin pan, filling them almost all the way up with batter.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the muffins test clean.

Banana zucchini muffins fresh out of the oven.

Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes before peeling off the muffin papers to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

Store any leftover healthy zucchini banana muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for 7 days.

You can also freeze the banana zucchini muffins in a zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Plate of healthy banana zucchini muffins with bananas in the background.

If you make and enjoy this recipe, please leave a 5-star review below! Also feel free to share any changes you made to the muffins below in the comments section to help out fellow readers.

Also try The BEST Almond Flour Zucchini Bread or The BEST Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread recipe (using a GF flour blend) for more healthy zucchini treats.

Muffins on repeat!

Top down photo of healthy banana zucchini muffins on a white backdrop.

Healthy Oatmeal Banana Zucchini Muffins

4.61 from 71 votes
Moist and delicious healthy oatmeal banana zucchini muffins made flourless with rolled oats and no added sweetener! These delicious healthy zucchini muffins are a lovely breakfast or snack.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 9 muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 3 ripe bananas mashed
  • 1 cup grated zucchini about 1 small zucchini
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 Tbsp avocado oil*
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract optional
  • 1 tsp lemon juice**
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • cup chocolate chips optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with 9 muffin papers.
  • Pour two cups of rolled oats into a high-speed blender and blend until a flour forms. This will take about 20 to 30 seconds on a high power.
    Add the rolled oats to a blender and blend into flour
  • Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl until creamy. 
    Mashed bananas in a mixing bowl
  • Grate a medium-sized zucchini using a box grater and measure out 1 cup of grated zucchini. Transfer the grated zucchini to the bowl with the mashed bananas, along with the eggs, vanilla extract, oil, and lemon juice. Mix everything together until well-combined (wet ingredients).
    Grated zucchini, ripe bananas and eggs mixed in a mixing bowl.
  • Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking soda, sea salt, and ground cinnamon) to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix until everything is well-combined.
    Mixing bowl with wet ingredients for muffins mixed up and oat flour on top.
  • Stir in the chocolate chips (if adding).
    Muffin batter in a mixing bowl with chocolate chips on top.
  • Transfer the zucchini muffin batter into the lined muffin pan, filling them almost all the way up with batter.
    Muffin pan with zucchini muffin batter ready to go into the oven.
  • Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the muffins test clean.
    Banana zucchini muffins fresh out of the oven.
  • Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes before peeling off the muffin papers to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.
    Horizontal top down photo of gluten-free zucchini muffins on a plate with a zucchini squash and bananas to the side.

Notes

*Use olive oil, coconut oil, or melted butter if you'd like instead of avocado oil.
**You can replace the lemon juice with lime juice, cider vinegar, rice vinegar, etc.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Muffin (of 9) · Calories: 252kcal · Carbohydrates: 35g · Protein: 7g · Fat: 10g · Fiber: 5g · Sugar: 14g
Author: Julia
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: banana bread muffins, flourless zucchini muffins, gluten-free muffin recipes, healthy banana muffins, healthy muffin recipes, healthy oatmeal banana zucchini muffins, healthy zucchini muffins, oatmeal muffins
Did You Make This Recipe?I want to see it! Tag @the.roasted.root on social media!

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Julia Mueller
Meet the Author

Julia Mueller

Julia Mueller is a recipe developer, cookbook author, and founder of The Roasted Root. She has authored three bestselling cookbooks, – Paleo Power Powers, Delicious Probiotic Drinks, and The Quintessential Kale Cookbook. Her recipes have been featured in several national publications such as BuzzFeed, Self, Tasty, Country Living, Brit.co, etc.

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4.61 from 71 votes (71 ratings without comment)

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Questions and Reviews

  1. I followed the instructions as outlined in #4, which did not include the oil. I wondered, after I put the muffins in the oven, why I had the avocado oil sitting on the counter. Next time I will know better.

    1. My apologies for the confusion, Susan! The oil goes in with the other wet ingredients. For future information – it can be mixed in at the end as well and the recipe will still turn out exactly as intended 🙂 Thank you for pointing this out! xoxo

  2. Very delicious! I substituted a half a cup of finely chopped dried cranberries instead of chocolate chips to keep it on the healthier side. I keep them frozen so when I feel like eating one I just pop it out of the freezer, and let it thaw out before eating. Thank you for sharing this great recipe! Keep your fabulous recipes coming our way!

    1. Ooh, I love the idea of using dried cranberries! I’ll have to try that the next time I make the muffins. Thanks for the inspiration, Chris! xo

  3. Would I need to change any ingredients if I wanted to add cacao powder to make these chocolatey? How much cacao powder would u suggest using? Thank u.

    1. Hi Annie! You would need to add more liquid to offset the addition of the cocoa powder and you’d probably also want to add a sweetener or else the muffins will taste savory and almost bitter. In this sense, I would need to develop an entirely different recipe to give you an accurate answer. I will be posting a chocolate banana bread tomorrow that uses oat flour (but doesn’t include zucchini), so you could try that if you’d like. Hope this helps! xo

  4. I have shredded zucchini in the freezer. Can I thaw that out and use it for this recipe? I know when zucchini thaws out, there is a lot of water in the container. Would I use this water in the recipe, or get rid of it?

    1. Hi Jennifer! Quick oats should work too. Just be sure you have around 1 1/2 cups to 1 2/3 cups of flour once the oat are blended.

    1. Hi Lois! I would use 1 1/2 cups and see how the batter looked. You can always add a little more if it seems too thin. Hope this helps!

  5. Please update step 4 in your instructions to add oil! I got the muffins in the cups and then realized the oil had not been added. Thanks

    1. I haven’t tested the recipe using steel cut oatmeal so I can’t be sure, but in my experience, steel cut oats take a very long time to soften. I would hesitate to use them in a baked recipe like this, but again I haven’t tried it myself, so I’m not sure how it would turn out. xo

  6. These were so good! I added the coconut, walnuts, raisins and a few chocolate chips to sweeten. Some people may want to sweeten it a bit more, but I found them just right! I also had to bake about 5 extra minutes, but I’m at 3000ft above sea level, so it may have made a difference for timing. Thank you!!! I will be getting creative with ingredients for this one!

    1. I’m so thrilled you enjoy them! I like them to be less sweet too. Can’t wait to try them again with your combination of coconut, walnuts, raisins, and chocolate chips! 🙂 xoxo

  7. Easy to make, taste good. I followed the recipe exactly but the batter stuck to the muffin paper cups. Waste of almost a third of the muffin.

    1. Hi Angel! I haven’t made jumbo muffins but after a quick google, it looks like you would bake them for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F 🙂 Let me know how they turn out! xo

  8. I made these vegan and oil-free by using 6 tbsp aquafaba (lightly beaten with a fork) instead of eggs, and 2 tbsp almond butter instead of oil. I baked for 28 minutes, and they were delicious.

    1. Sounds amazing, Marcy! Thanks so much for sharing all of that – this is super helpful to others who want to try the same things! xoxo

  9. We doubled the recipe, subbed 1/4 cup greek yogurt for each egg, added a few drops of vanilla liquid stevia, and they turned out great!!

  10. Everything about this recipe is 5 stars- from the photography,step by step detailed recipe instructions,suggested substitutions or add ins, and of course the resulting moist, chocolatey (I am an admitted chocoholic) delicious muffins with all the feel good healthy ingredients of bananas, oats, zucchini (I even add a tbsp of chia seeds). I make them in mini muffin tins and have 1-2 muffins every morning for breakfast.

    1. Thank you Lisa! I’m thrilled to hear you enjoy this post! I appreciate the sweet words – this is very encouraging. Happy baking! xo