A Mommy Story

I’m not fond of the heat of summer, but I do like many of the fruits and veggies that are produced from the warmer weather. I’m especially fond of zucchini. It’s such a versatile vegetable – and it’s easy to hide in other foods for picky kids.

It was zucchini that came to my rescue when I was trying to find a way to get the kids to eat more vegetables a few years ago. They were both stubbornly refusing to try new vegetables. If it required hiding the veggies in another food, I was willing to try it.

Of course, I’m not much of a cook, and only slightly better at baking. But my most successful attempt so far would have to be my zucchini muffins. I’ve been able to put 3+ cups of grated zucchini into the batter and the kids still think it’s a treat. While at first they didn’t know there were vegetables in their muffins, I eventually told them. They were surprised, yet that knowledge didn’t stop them from eating more. I think it helped convince them that it’s worth trying new vegetables. I tricked them into eating zucchini, and years later they still beg me to make these muffins with even more zucchini in them.

I’ve posted this recipe before, but thought I’d share it again in case you’re having a good zucchini growing year. These are great to pack as dessert for school lunches or as part of a breakfast. Or as a late night snack, in my case.

Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I prefer whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
* substitute nutmeg or other spice here if you have a cinnamon allergy (my girls have mostly outgrown their intolerance to it)
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup natural applesauce (no sugar added)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar *
* you can use all white sugar if you like, but I prefer the addition of brown – go with your preference
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (REAL vanilla ONLY)
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Grease two muffin pans. (I use cooking spray.) I like to use one standard muffin pan and one pan for mini-muffins. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Don’t have a sifter? A whisk works well enough.

3. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour or spoon into greased muffin pans, filling each space only 2/3 to 3/4 full to allow for expansion. (OK, I’ll be honest here. I top them off for bigger muffins.)

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan on racks for 20 minutes. Then remove muffins from pan and completely cool.

Cooling them while still in the pan is important. I found if I take them out of the pan too soon, they become hard on the outside.

If you’re going to keep these muffins around for more than a few days (good luck – they go fast here), store them in the fridge. A quick 5-10 sec. microwave zap will warm them up again.

They can also be frozen if you choose to make several batches due to getting 14 zucchini all at once. Just sayin’.

Also, while I may call it “my” recipe, it’s actually a slightly modified version of a zucchini bread recipe on AllRecipes.com. Changes to the original recipe included cutting the oil in half and substituting applesauce for the other half, using whole wheat flour, cutting back on the amount of sugar and using brown sugar. I’ve tried several variations on the recipe, including substituting 1/2 cup of ground flax seed for 1/2 cup of flour, and nearly every variation has still turned out well. It’s a great recipe to play with and make your own.

Added bonus: after baking these, your entire house smells delicious for the next 12 hours!