Yes, it does sound weird at first. I had a few zucchinis so I started looking around on Pinterest to see if I can find a new recipe to try. This is how I found this lovely one – it sounded peculiar enough to make me want to bake it. Let me tell you, I’ll keep this one!
You can check out the original recipe for Zucchini Muffins on Simply Recipes.
What you’ll need:
- 3 cups grated zucchini (be careful with the grater, it bites!)
- 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- a pinch of salt
- + about one cup of dried fruit and/or walnuts (optional)
How:
- Mix the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together, and then pour the grated zucchini and the butter into the mixture. TIP: squeeze the excess moisture out of the zucchini with your hand. Keep the green juice and put it aside. It will come in handy later.
- Stir together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, then mix it with the zucchini mixture. If you use dried fruits or walnut, then mix it in as well. I used a handful of dried cranberries and a handful of crushed walnuts.
- Spoon the dough into a greased muffin pan, or use silicone baking cups, like I did. I personally like these better because they are easy to use and there’s no sticky-business.
- Then bake for about 20-25 minutes in preheated oven. Once they start to get browned, they are ready!
I made 15 muffins out of this mixture but I did spoon quite a lot into each cup so if you’d prefer smaller ones, you’ll have even more – which is really not a problem, as these muffins are pretty filling.
Oh, and the best part? They smell like Christmas! Which, if you are a Christmas-junkie like I am, is pretty good news especially since there are only 115 days left until Christmas, but who’s counting… �
Let’s not forget about the zucchini juice we reserved. Throw in a few cotton pads, let them soak the goodness in, then squeeze the excess moisture out, and voilà, you have refreshing eye pads. You can make a batch of these, put them in a sandwich bag, and store them in the freezer. You can get out a pair anytime you need them, just let them sit around a good 10 minutes before using.
You can also use the juice in smoothies, or when making a juice (surprisingly) as it’s very healthy and it’s filled with all kind of good stuff.
So, have you tried zucchini muffins before? What’s your favorite zucchini recipe?
