The seasons seemed to jump right from winter to summer here in VT, which meant that it was suddenly time to start thinking more seriously about our garden. Thinking about our garden reminded me of the bags and bags of frozen zucchini saved from last summer. We ended up with a few monster zucchinis, and the best thing to do with those are to use them in baking, so I saved quite a few bags with one cup measured out. The frozen shredded zucchini worked perfectly for both the Zucchini Banana Bread and for these muffins, I just had to plan ahead to thaw it out.
I got this recipe from a blog that I frequently visited as I was starting my own blog: Tastes Better From Scratch. I love this blog because it is super family friendly with wholesome ingredients, for the most part. The recipes are also pretty straight forward and very easy to find, which is nice because I tend to be a little bit busy and tight on time!
Even though they tasted great, I knew something was a little bit off as soon as I bit into a muffin. A couple bites later, I realized that I had forgotten to add the salt. I never really considered how much of an impact a teaspoon of salt has on a recipe. Not having the salt showed me how much better it makes muffins. Just a pinch of salt helps to bring out the rest of the flavors, and without it, the muffin was just not as exciting to eat.
Also, I am loving the reusable silicone muffin tin liners that are pictured below. They are so easy to use, the batter rarely sticks to them, and they eliminate waste as long as you reuse them, it's a win-win-win!
Servings: 12 muffins Active Time: 20 mins Total Time: 30 mins
Ingredients ~
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour , white whole wheat, or whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup mashed banana (about 1 banana)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup zucchini , shredded (about 1 small zucchini)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips , raisins, nuts, or coconut
Instructions ~
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray, or line it with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon and salt. (Fluff the flour a little before spooning it into the measuring cup to make sure it's not packed too tightly).
In a separate bowl whisk together the oil, mashed banana, milk, egg and vanilla.
Grate and measure out the zucchini. then gather the grated zucchini in your hands and squeeze it over the sink to get rid of excess moisture. Stir into wet ingredients.
Stir in dry ingredients and chocolate chips, just until combined (don't over-mix the batter).
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full. This recipe will make 12 smaller muffins, or 10 medium size muffins. Bake for 17-18 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back lightly to the touch.
Remove the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe From: Tastes Better From Scratch
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