img_0691These muffins are fantastic. And I don’t mean “fantastic for zucchini muffins.” I mean plain fantastic. They are delicious and filling and perfect for breakfast, lunch, and after-school snacks. They’re also a great way to use any too-gigantic-to-spiralize zucchini you find yourself with this time of year.

I know, who am I to tell people what to bake? It’s no secret that I don’t bake much — recipes that require measuring a “precise 1/8 teaspoon” or, you know, actually following the directions, tend to throw me. I use my oven almost every day of my life, but rarely to actually bake. So it’s understandable that this blog wouldn’t be the first place to look for a great muffin recipe. I think in the entire time I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve done exactly two baking posts — and one of them was written by my sister.

That’s exactly why you should trust me on this.

Because I’m obsessed with real food, I tend to think that if you’re going to have baked goods, have ones made from recognizable ingredients like fresh organic eggs, real butter, and unbleached flour — without artificial chemical preservatives and trans fats. And if I’m going to take the time to read a recipe all the way through, get myself covered in flour, and actually measure something precisely, you can bet whatever I’m baking will be damn good. In other words, when I bake, I do not mess around.

It’s also a safe bet that, try as I might to follow the directions to the letter, there’s a high chance I will botch some step in in the recipe. But in this case — I forgot to add the baking powder — my botching actually improved things. These muffins are a little denser than normal, but I think they’re better for it — and much more portable. I also substituted olive oil for canola oil (which I didn’t have); I’m sure canola oil works fine, too. Since I can never resist tweaking recipes, I doubled the nuts (I love nutty muffins) and threw in some chocolate, which makes everything better, right?

img_0688Zucchini Muffins with Nuts & Chocolate
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini (If you have a food processor, use it; if not, a cheese grater works fine.)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup dark chocolate pieces (I recommend 365 brand dark chocolate chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs and oil; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, walnuts, pecans, and chocolate. Coat muffin pan cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake for 25 mins. or until a toothpick comes out clean (start checking after about 22 mins.). Cool for 5 mins. before removing from pan to a wire rack. Makes 12-18 muffins, depending on size (I have two different sized muffin pans).

2 Responses

  1. These look (and sound) fantastic! I am not much of a baker either, but you have given me hope that you kind of “can’t mess these up” – so I will try this weekend with my daughter. She doesn’t love veggies but will (sometimes) eat things she makes…so maybe this will work. Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Hi Emily!
      So fun running into you this weekend, hope you guys won! Let me know how the muffins turn out if you make them — you’re right; you really can’t mess them up (otherwise I would have for sure!).
      Bevin