Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting are a spicy twist on a classic treat. The zucchini blends seamlessly into the batter, adding tenderness without overpowering the flavor. Topped with rich cinnamon cream cheese frosting, they're a perfectly balanced treat that feels both comforting and indulgent.
I love using vegetables in baked goods. Yes, we all love carrot cake. And chocolate zucchini cake is a special chocolaty zucchini treat. But, if we skip the chocolate and add more cinnamon, then we can really let the cinnamon and zucchini shine. Also, zucchini cupcakes are a perfectly portioned way to use up some of that zucchini from the garden while sneaking in some vegetables at the same time.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Neutral vegetable oil
- White sugar
- Eggs
- Finely grated zucchini
See recipe card for quantities.
FROSTING INGREDIENTS
- Cream Cheese
- Salted Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Heavy Cream
See recipe card for quantities.
Variations
- Cinnamon - these are very cinnamon forward as I am a huge cinnamon fan. (If you want to read more about cinnamon, check out the Types of Cinnamon section in my overnight cinnamon rolls recipe.) But I know that not everyone lists cinnamon as one of their true loves. So you can certainly leave out all of the cinnamon in the cupcakes and the frosting, and they will still be awesome. However, I do recommend leaving one teaspoon of cinnamon in the cupcake base. Just one teaspoon won't be overly cinnamon-y.
- Chocolate - making chocolate zucchini cupcakes require more than just adding cocoa powder since cocoa powder is very drying. If you want chocolate zucchini cupcakes, I suggest using the ingredients from my chocolate zucchini cake recipe along with the baking instructions from this recipe.
- Frosting - I love cinnamon frosting, it's so cozy while still providing a little spice to the sweet frosting. However, you can also use the chocolate buttercream frosting from the chocolate zucchini cake recipe or the cream cheese frosting from the carrot cake recipe. Both are great options, and it's good to have lots of options!
Equipment
A small hole grater (or a blender or food processor) is needed for this recipe. And a hand or stand mixer is helpful for this recipe.
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Next Level Tips
- If you want the zucchini cupcakes to have more of a green color, reduce the amount of cinnamon in the cupcake base to one teaspoon.
- I used the Wilton 1M tip to frost the cupcakes. Like the Ateco 1M, it's a great universal tip. I always pipe frosting on cupcakes because it's quicker for me. Back when I was baking lots and lots of cupcakes, I could make frosting for and then frost 96 cupcakes per hour. There's no way to do that with a knife! The thing is, I got better at frosting cupcakes solely because I was doing it so much. Practice definitely makes you better and more efficient, at anything. But don't stress if your frosting looks a little wonky in the beginning. Everyone loves cupcakes, regardless of what they look like.
- Do you find frosting too sweet? Add ⅛ teaspoon of salt to balance the sweetness. You'll be amazed at how that tiny bit of salt can cut the sweetness of frosting. You can add it at the beginning or after tasting the frosting. Just mix well after adding it.
- Cupcakes are so great for themed events. You can match any theme just by using fun cupcake liners. The options for parties, holidays and themed events are endless.
FAQ
Yes, but if you use a blender, just liquify the zucchini so that you don't end up with small chunks. You could also use the grating tool on a food processor. But, for these cupcakes, I recommend grating the zucchini with a small hole grater (not a micro grater). This allows the zucchini to retain more of its liquid and makes for a nicer cupcake structure. I know using a blender sounds faster, but it's not always faster especially when you factor in clean up. Grating works better for cupcakes, and it only takes a few minutes.
Cinnamon is such a great flavor, and we use a lot in this recipe to really let it shine. If cinnamon is not your favorite, you can reduce the amount of cinnamon to one teaspoon in the cupcake base. You can also reduce or eliminate the cinnamon from the frosting as well.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 Small hole grater
- 1 Stand or hand mixer optional
Ingredients
Zucchini cupcakes
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ¾ cup neutral vegetable oil
- 2 cups zucchini finely grated
- 3 eggs
Cinnamon cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tablespoons salted butter room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Zucchini cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 ℉. Line one 24-cup muffin pan or two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Combine the all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Stir well and set aside.
- Grate the zucchini with a small hole grater and set aside.
- Add the sugar and neutral vegetable oil to a mixing bowl and mix on medium until combined.
- Add the eggs to the mixing bowl and mix until fully integrated.
- Add the grated zucchini to the mixing bowl and mix until fully integrated.
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix until almost combined. Scrape down the sides, add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. Scrape down the sides an additional time if needed.
- Using a large 4 tablespoon cookie scoop, add one full scoop of batter to each cupcake liner.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back and the edges are starting to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on a cooling rack to fully cool.
Cinnamon cream cheese frosting
- Add the room temperature cream cheese, salted butter and cinnamon to a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until all the cinnamon has been incorporated into the cream cheese and butter and the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides once or twice as needed.
- Add the powdered sugar and one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream to the mixing bowl. Mix on medium until it starts to come together as frosting. Once the frosting starts to come together, scrape down the sides and then turn the mixer up to medium high. Mix for 2 minutes on medium high. Mixing on medium high allow air into the frosting making it lighter and fluffier. Check the consistency and if the frosting is too thick, add up to two additional tablespoons of heavy whipping cream (one at a time) and mix for 1 minute after the addition of each tablespoon of heavy cream.
- Add the frosting to a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Or, use an offset spatula or knife to spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Don't worry! We won't spam you!
Leave a Reply