Zucchini Cupcakes

Our flavorful zucchini cupcakes are a great choice if you’re looking for a slightly more virtuous way to make personal-sized desserts. Orange juice and spices add extra zip to the batter, which comes together quickly. As with many zucchini bread recipes, the grated summer squash keeps the cupcakes moist throughout every bite. The homemade frosting—an old-fashioned boiled icing with brown sugar and vanilla—makes them grandma-tested and approved.

Bake these cupcakes when the garden and farmers market overflow with summer squash. They’re one of the many zucchini dessert recipes we love—perfect for lunch boxes, workplace snacks, potlucks and bake sales.

Ingredients for Zucchini Cupcakes

• Eggs: Using room-temperature eggs in the batter gives these cupcakes a pleasant, rich quality.
• Sugars: The zucchini cupcake recipe calls for granulated sugar in the batter and both brown sugar and confectioner’s sugar in the boiled icing.
• Dry ingredients: Classic cake ingredients, including flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, make up the dry ingredient mix you’ll be using to prep this dessert. Any of your favorite brands of those items will work perfectly.
• Canola oil: Neutral cooking oil like canola helps keep the cake moist. You could also use another neutral or nutty oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower.
• Orange juice: The acidity of orange juice is a nice addition to the cake batter. Choose your favorite orange juice brand, with or without pulp.
• Extracts: Almond extract adds flavor to the cakes, and vanilla extract goes into the frosting.
• Spices: A good amount of cinnamon and a hint of clove give this a spice cake vibe. You can add your other favorite fragrant spices too.
• Zucchini: Green zucchini is the go-to for baking, but yellow summer squash will do just as nicely if that’s what you can find at the store or in your garden. Shred or grate the zucchini on a box grater or using a food processor. If desired, remove some of the moisture from the zucchini after grating.
• Milk and butter: Butter and 2% milk are important frosting components. Prefer whole milk? No problem. The frosting doesn’t contain salt, so it’s okay to use salted butter if that’s what you’ve got.

Directions

Step 1: Make the batter

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, orange juice and almond extract. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cloves. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, and blend just until well combined.

Stir in the zucchini.

Step 2: Bake and cool the cupcakes

Fill 18 paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Step 3: Make the frosting

In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir until thickened, one to two minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until the frosting reaches spreading consistency.

Editor’s Tip: You can make the frosting while the cupcakes bake.

Step 4: Frost the cupcakes

Frost the cupcakes and serve.

This frosting is loose, slightly thicker than a glaze. You won’t need a piping bag, more likely a spoon or small measuring cup. Start with a small amount and add more to ensure it doesn’t slide off before hardening.

Zucchini Cupcake Variations

• Add dried fruits and nuts: Increase the nutrition factor by stirring in pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds or all of the above. You can also include raisins or other chopped dried fruit.
• Tweak the spices: Both cardamom and ginger are nice additions to the spice mix. You could also try some homemade pumpkin pie spice as an alternative.
• Use applesauce: For a lower-fat option, replace half the oil with applesauce. Using applesauce to reduce fat in baking recipes is a great healthful hack.
• Try another frosting: These cupcakes taste great with a tangy cream cheese frosting or smooth vanilla buttercream.

How to Store Zucchini Cupcakes

Store frosted zucchini cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you have cupcakes that aren’t yet frosted, store them in a zip-top bag or cookie tin on the counter and keep the extra frosting in a container or jar in the fridge.

How long do zucchini cupcakes last?

Frosted zucchini cupcakes can last up to a week in the fridge, while unfrosted cupcakes can last up to five days in a sealed container on the counter.

Can you freeze zucchini cupcakes?

If the zucchini cupcakes haven’t been frosted, freeze them in a zip-top bag or freezer-safe container. They’ll hold up well for up to three months.

Zucchini Cupcake Tips

What’s the best way to get all the moisture out of zucchini?

Zucchini is about 90% water; while you want some moisture in the cupcakes, you don’t want all of it. To remove moisture from shredded zucchini before adding it to a batter, roll the zucchini shreds in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze it so the towel can absorb some of the liquid. You can also do something similar with paper towels, but they’re more prone to tearing, so if you use them, you’ll want to press the zucchini rather than squeezing it. Another fun zucchini trick: Put the shredded squash into a French press or potato ricer and press out the liquid.

Do you need to peel zucchini for zucchini cupcakes?

You don’t need to peel zucchini for zucchini cupcakes. The skin is the most nutritious part of the vegetable, containing vitamins C and B6, as well as a good amount of fiber. Plus, the skin is tender and doesn’t have a strong flavor, so aside from the extra color it provides, you won’t even know it’s there.