Zucchini Cupcakes

🧾 What You’ll Need

Ingredients

My zucchini cupcake recipe is a bit different than most–I like adding some lime zest to brighten them and add a secondary flavor. If you’re not a lime lover, you can use lemon or orange, or omit it entirely, but I urge you to keep an open mind, because I think they just might surprise you! Here’s what else you’ll need to make these cupcakes: (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Zucchini: We’re using 2 cups of zucchini (which is roughly 1 medium zucchini) in this delicious treat. The zucchini adds tons of moisture to the bread too, for an amazingly soft texture!
• Lime zest: this ingredient might come as a surprise, but I love adding the bright pop of lime flavor to my zucchini bread. If you don’t have limes, you can swap in lemon or orange zest, or omit it entirely. You can use regular limes or key limes in this recipe. Not sure what makes them different . . . check out my detailed post about what makes a regular lime different from a key lime!
• All-purpose flour: “Regular” flour, aka all-purpose, is what we’re using to give the bread its structure. I recommend actually weighing the flour (and all of your ingredients!) for a more accurate result, but you can also spoon it into the measuring cup and gently level it off.
• Baking soda and baking powder: you need both leavening agents to create a perfectly light yet moist texture.
• Oil neutral canola oil keeps the flavor focus on the zucchini and lime.
• Brown sugar: brown sugar gives the cake a deeper flavor and helps keep it moist. You can use dark or light brown sugar.
• Eggs: the eggs should be at room temperature. Either let them sit out for 20-30 minutes, or submerge them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to warm them up quickly.

Equipment

The equipment list is short, and full of things you might own already! (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Cupcake Pan: I use a standard-sized cupcake pan. You can use another size, but the baking time will be affected.
• Cupcake Scoop: a cupcake scoop is a super clean and easy way to portion out the batter.
• Piping Bags and Piping Tip: using a piping bag with a piping tip is one of the easiest to get perfectly frosted cupcakes.
• Grater: a grater is a great way to get small shreds of zucchini to incorporate into the batter.
• Microplane: I use a microplane to zest the lime, but a fine cheese grater also works.
• Hand Mixer: you can mix your batter using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Just make sure not to over-mix or you’ll end up with tough, gummy cupcakes!

📋 Instructions

These zucchini cupcakes are ready in just over 30 minutes! Get a printable version of this recipe in the recipe card below.

• In a bowl, mix together brown sugar, eggs, and oil. Use a whisk to beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet batter. Mix until no streaks remain.

• Use the grater to shred the zucchini into small shreds, then add that to the batter along with the lime zest.
• Mix by hand until combined.

• Portion the batter out into a lined cupcake pan. Fill each liner about 1/2-2/3 full.
• Bake the cupcakes at 350ºF for 20 minutes or until they are lightly golden. Cool completely, then add the frosting.

💭 Variations

Stick to the original recipe, or mix things up a bit with these variation ideas!

• Spice things up. Feel free to add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the batter in place of the citrus zest to make spiced cupcakes for fall.
• Add nuts. Mix in a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans for some extra crunch.
• Make them chocolatey. Mini chocolate chips would be a great addition as well.
• Use another zest. Not a fan of lime zest? Swap it out for lemon or orange zest—or just leave it our entirely! Love all the citrus? Check out more of my recipes using citrus!
• Use another frosting. These cupcakes taste delicious with the cream cheese frosting, because who doesn’t love any recipe using cream cheese. However, they would also be great topped with other types of frosting, such as buttercream or chocolate sour cream frosting.
• Flavor the frosting. This cream cheese frosting recipe can be easily adapted for other flavors. You can substitute the limes for lemons or turn it into a vanilla frosting by adding 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. You can also try adding 1/2 tsp of cinnamon for a cinnamon frosting.

💡 Tips and FAQs  

• Use flavorless oil. We used oil instead of butter, because it yields a super light crumb, which is delicious. I recommend sticking to a flavorless oil such as vegetable oil. Olive oil will not work here as you will be able to taste it.
• Don’t dry the zucchini! Although it may be tempting, do not squeeze the water from the zucchini after you grate it. That water makes these cupcakes so insanely moist. Their light, soft, and moist texture is part of what makes them so darn good.
• Use full fat cream cheese. If you’re making the cream cheese frosting, make sure you use full-fat cream cheese blocks. Otherwise the frosting will be thin and runny.
• Bring the butter and cream cheese to room temp. Before you begin, bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature. This ensures a silky smooth frosting with no lumps.
• Adjust the texture if needed. The consistency of this frosting is a little thinner for sweet breads than you would want for cupcakes. If it looks too soft, just add more powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time). You can also refrigerate for half an hour or so which will help the frosting to set up.

❤️ More Cupcake Favorites to Try

Looking for more fun cupcake recipes to try? Here are a few of my favorites!

• Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
• Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
• Chocolate Feathers and Thanksgiving Cupcakes
• Early Grey Lavender Cupcakes