Zucchini Muffins
From: Simply Recipes
Another recipe I made today to store in the freezer in preparation for Baby Arrival next week. I actually had some shredded zucchini in the freezer from last summer's garden haul, so I used that, and added some shredded carrots to fill out the 3 cups of veg needed. I added chopped almonds, raisins, and some flax seeds. I also used some applesauce in place of a bit of the butter, and used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all-purpose. I wanted to try to make these a little more nutritious but not go overboard and end up with dry, dense muffins like you sometimes get when you sub out all the good stuff for more virtuous ingredients.
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.
2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.
Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you might have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I was able to get all the batter into just 12 muffins, but I filled the tins completely, even going a little above the rim of the cups. They rose a bit when cooking, but it wasn't a problem to overfill them a little bit.
Another recipe I made today to store in the freezer in preparation for Baby Arrival next week. I actually had some shredded zucchini in the freezer from last summer's garden haul, so I used that, and added some shredded carrots to fill out the 3 cups of veg needed. I added chopped almonds, raisins, and some flax seeds. I also used some applesauce in place of a bit of the butter, and used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all-purpose. I wanted to try to make these a little more nutritious but not go overboard and end up with dry, dense muffins like you sometimes get when you sub out all the good stuff for more virtuous ingredients.
Ingredients
- 3 cups grated fresh zucchini (I used a mix of zucchini and shredded carrots)
- 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter (I used one stick of butter, melted, plus some applesauce)
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- Pinch salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat flour)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup walnuts (optional) (I used almonds, chopped)
- 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
Method
You don't need a mixer for this recipe.1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.
2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.
Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you might have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I was able to get all the batter into just 12 muffins, but I filled the tins completely, even going a little above the rim of the cups. They rose a bit when cooking, but it wasn't a problem to overfill them a little bit.
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