Zucchini has long been one of my favorite foods. When I think about it, it’s actually pretty strange that kid-Stephanie gave this green squash a chance.
Why?
Well, I was an extremely picky eater. It was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (with the crust cut off) and chicken nuggets or nothing. This stage lasted much longer than I would like to admit.
Slowly, very slowly, I began to add other foods to my very small list of acceptable nourishment. Luckily, my mom liked to bake. And I have a large portion of my heart devoted to bread. I think it might be larger than the portion of my heart that likes puppies.
When soft, wonderful bread and zucchini collided, it’s safe to say that I was completely won over.
The best thing about zucchini is that it blends in with its surroundings. For example: zucchini bread. Really, it’s just a sweet quick bread. There is never an overpowering vegetable taste. Because it takes on flavors so well, it can easily be changed to spiced cinnamon bread or warm vanilla bread. Or, really, whatever you have on hand.
As a kid, I didn’t know that zucchini was in my sweet, buttery bread. Thanks, mom.
These muffins are again proof of zucchini’s ambiguity. Today, they are wearing a wonderful maple hat. This might be one of my favorite disguises. The maple syrup adds the perfect touch of sweetness to the muffins, while the crunchy, sugary tops give you a little extra sweetness to look forward to.
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups shredded zucchini (use a clean dish towel to squeeze out the extra juice)
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1-2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
- Combine the flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir the mixture until all ingredients are incorporated.
- In a smaller bowl, mix together the zucchini, yogurt, oil, syrup and egg.
- Add the zucchini mixture to the flour and stir until just combined (mixture will be thick--but try not to over-mix). Optional: Sprinkle batter with turbinado sugar.
- Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups (either with paper liners or coated with pan spray). Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
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