Tuesday, October 19, 2010

A Little Green in Your Muffin

I have a list of foods to make right now and I need to hop to it. There's some stuff in my freezer that needs to get eaten to make room for new things. Lists are good, I've made a whole bunch of those. I started acting on this list yesterday when this guy showed up:


One enormous zucchini from my mother-in-law's garden. Seriously, he's huge!
Lord have mercy what shall I do with him?

I don't want to freeze too many things because, (1) I only have so much space in the freezer, (2) I don't regularly eat many freezer friendly foods (a la lasagna), and (3) we have access to many easy and delicious food options that don't need advance creation.
On my short list to make is Peas and Thank You's Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna (made it a few weeks ago, loved it- ate it all without photographing a thing. le sigh) I'll do that later this week and won't need to buy the squash. But here today I wanted to use part of this giant. Presto chango- the pumpkin muffins I planned to bake for the nurses in the hospital have become zucchini muffins. With some mini chocolate chips added for fun.

Per usual I looked at a dozen recipes before settling on an amalgamation of several. I made 20 muffins, two of them baked in ramekins for Ray to enjoy for breakfast.
I popped the rest in the ice box, ready to pull out before we head to labor & delivery. Hurray for crossing things off the to-do list!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
makes 20 muffins (or thereabouts)

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups freshly grated zucchini
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs well with a wire whisk. Add the oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla and mix well to incorporate.

In a separate small bowl, sift the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add the mini chocolate chips and toss to coat.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Try not to overmix!
Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Cool in muffins pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container for 3-4 days, or transfer to freezer bags for several weeks to a few months. I'm not planning on more than a month here!
~:::~

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i've been following your blog throughout my own first pregnancy and just delivered our precious baby girl on the 11th. i did exactly what you're planning to do with the muffins! i arrived at labor & delivery with a sheet pan of 32 homemade muffins in four varities. needless to say, our care through the entire experience was beyond exceptional. my nurse even commented that we had been put in the "penthouse suite" of postpartum rooms. i can't help but think the muffins may have had something to do with it.

i hope everything goes as smoothly for you as it did for us. all things considered, it was an absolute breeze. good luck mama!

Sarah said...

Hi lisampls,

Thanks so much for following my blogs, and leaving a comment! Of course I'm jealous that you already have your baby girl with you- I really can't wait! I dreamt she was here last night, maybe that means it will be soon :-)

You are brilliant to bring several varieties of muffins to the hospital, I think I shall do the same. I'm curious what varieties you brought.

Best of luck in these first weeks, I hope to see you again!

Unknown said...

so sweet of you to bring muffins with you for delivery!! good luck to you two :)