Saturday, August 10, 2013

Delicious Zucchini Muffins

For as long as I can remember, each summer when the zucchini squash my parents planted got to an unbelievable size, my mom baked zucchini bread. Usually there would be a squash hidden beneath the large leaves of the plants, growing by the inch each day until it was so big it had to be discovered! When that happened it was bread time!!
I asked her the other day where she acquired the original recipe. When I was a year old we moved into a house rented out by one of the sweetest most gentle women I've ever had the pleasure to know. We called her Grandma. Grandma Ross. Well mom had more zucchini than she knew what to do with and Grandma Ross offered up her recipe for the quick bread. It was the only way my parents were going to get their six kids to eat that vegetable!
The original recipe is fantastic, I shall not lie. Moist and full of flavor! But as I've learned through a few years experience (I shall not calculate just trust me on the few) there are many heavy ingredients that go into making the old fashioned quick breads, this recipe was no exception.
This year I decided to try my hand at altering the recipe. Make it a little healthier. I wasn't wanting too healthy, it is considered a treat around here and I wanted to stay true to the flavor of the original bread. Grabbing the first zucchini off my plants the other day I got to work.
After a friend tried a muffin from the first test batch and posted a positive review about it on facebook I knew I'd done well. So for those of you that have requested my recipe here it is! I hope you all love it as much as my family does.
By the way, Mom approved the altered recipe, said it tastes very much like the orginal and wondered why I didn't share more of the batch with her and Dad <grin>.
Pepper's Zucchini Muffins
Cream together:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
3 Tbsp vanilla
In a seperate bowl sift together:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
Stir flour mixture into creamed sugar mixture until well incorporated. 
Fold in 2 cups grated zucchini (grate, squeeze out excess moisture and pack into measuring cup).
Spray muffin tin with non stick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Turn out on to rack to cool.
Makes approx 18 muffins.
(I do not have a bake time for a bread loaf as we prefer it as muffins. I also do not have the nutrition info.)