A Real Live Actually Healthy Muffin!

OK. So I have been on a crusade to make my family healthy, whole foods (at least the majority of the time). That being said, muffins should be a no brainer...nope. Most are filled with sugar (often more than half as much as base product ex.flour in most cases). In my mind that is a cupcake. I don't want to fly off the deep end though, because I have a toddler who needs to eat. She loves Indian food, Oriental food, Mexican food, and Italian food, but I DO think she would balk at a bran muffin.

About a week ago my wonderful mother in law gave me a few large zucchinis out of her garden. They were about 18 inches long and as thick as my bicep. I know from experience that slicing and roasting those babies is out. Anything big enough to de-seed is probably too big to serve that way. 

I found loads of zucchini recipes from white bean and zucchini farfalle, to zucchini tex mex dip and Kevin was a gem and ate them all. 

I finally came across this recipe.

 http://news.health.com/2011/06/29/zucchini-muffins/

It had a lot of promise. It was already pretty light, but I thought I could tweak it and make it even more so without loosing the flavor and texture.

I made it once as recommended, but then made it several more times (there really was a LOT of zucchini) tweaking it as I went. The end result is pretty darn healthy for a sweet muffin. It is soft, moist, and really tasty. Evelyn has been eating them...a lot, and Kevin loved the idea of freezing a few batches for on the go breakfasts when he needs to get out the door to work.

Makes 18ish muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour + 1tsp vital wheat gluten

2/3 cup white sugar (I used splenda and added less
1 cup packed brown sugar
3.5-4 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1.5 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2-3 tsp. vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)
1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup applesauce                                                                                                                                       2 tsp. baking powder (I just realized I should have doubled this, but it worked fine with 2tsp)

Cinnamon and sugar for topping

The prep steps are exactly the same for the original recipe at health.com, but I sprayed muffin tins rather than lining them.

1. Preheat oven to 375. In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. In medium bowl, combine grated zucchini, eggs, vanilla,applesauce and oil. Stir well to combine, then gently stir into flour mixture. Be careful not to overwork this—it will lead to dense muffins!

3. Fill lined muffin tins about 3/4 of the way up with the batter and then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on each. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden.