chocolate chunk zucchini muffins

my mom makes the. best. zucchini cake. it is light and moist and amazingly delicious and she serves it with fresh whipped cream. it really is fantastic. i haven't tried making a vegan version of her recipe (though after writing that it has shot to the top of my to do list) but when i saw this recipe in gourmet i imagined her cake in cupcake form with chocolate. well....that's not quite what i got. according to gourmet these are cupcakes but i'm calling them muffins because they are really much denser than the ideal cupcake should be. plus they don't have any frosting on them so they don't have that cupcake-y feel when you're eating them.

however! i'm not saying these are bad. no no no...put yourself in a muffin state of mind and they will hit the spot. they are full of chocolatey goodness and with the flecks of green zucchini you can trick yourself into believing that they are healthy and a perfectly acceptable breakfast muffin. i made slight alterations to the recipe 1. to make it vegan and 2. based on what i had on hand.

chocolate chunk zucchini muffins
(from gourmet, september 2009)
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup zucchini, coarsely grated
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

whisk together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

whisk together sugar, oil, yogurt, and vanilla in a large bowl until thick and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. mix in flour mixture until just incorporated. stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.

divide among lined muffin cups and bake until tops spring back when lightly pressed, 30 to 35 minutes. cool in pan 5 minutes, then turn out to cool completely.

-d

blueberry muffins

These are my very favorite blueberry muffins. As I have mentioned before, I hated blueberries as a child, and my parents made me blueberry-less blueberry muffins every summer. And even though they were super tasty, I am glad that I have found a place in my heart for blueberries.I have transcribed the recipe from the book, BUT I never actually mash any of the blueberries. They soften as they bake and form a nice blueberry swirl on their own, so I have never gone to the trouble of mashing. And this time, because I was making them for guests this weekend and ran out of all-purpose flour, substituted one cup of all purpose with one cup of white whole white. They were not quite as fluffy, but I think a tad healthier in the end!

Enjoy!

- e

Double Blueberry Muffins

from Gale Gand, Butter Flour Sugar Eggs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole or lowfat milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin or line the cups with paper liners. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt and mix. In a shallow bowl, mash 3/4 cup of the blueberries with the back of a fork. Add to the batter and mix.

With the mixer running at low speed, add 1/2 of the flour, then 1/2 of the milk, and mix. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Fold in the remaining 1 3/4 cups whole blueberries by hand until well mixed. In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon. Use an ice-cream scoop or large spoon to fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over the muffins and bake until golden brown and risen, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan at least 30 minutes before turning out.

peachy oat bran muffins

last tuesday as i took my usual lunchtime stroll to the ferry building farmers market i noticed that the delicious citrus i had become accustomed to buying was on the way out. in it's place? peaches and apricots! i only bought three peaches...just to test the waters...as they were the first of the season. they were fantastic. i ate them at work for snacks but ended up with one lil lonely peach at home this weekend. i also found a bag of oat bran in the fridge left over from some bread baking venture. and wouldn't you know, one super ripe banana that needed to be baked into something. only one thing to do...peachy oat bran muffins! i pretty much made this recipe up as i went along. the good? the texture is perfect! they are super moist and a little bit chewy from the oat bran. the bad? they're sadly bland. but! i know exactly what i would do to make them better next time and what you can do to make them awesome right now. more ginger! i would increase the powdered to one teaspoon (at least) and also add some minced fresh and/or crystallized ginger and i think they would be delightful. you could also switch out the peach for another fruit, add nuts, and experiment with spices to compliment the fruit you have on hand. below is the recipe i used for you to build on.

peachy oat bran muffins
ingredients:
2 1/4 cups oat bran
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 peach, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

preheat oven to 425.

in a large bowl, combine oat bran, baking powder and sugar.
in a separate bowl, mash the banana and whisk in soy milk and oil.
pour the wet ingredients into the dry. add peach pieces and mix until just combined.
spoon into muffin tin and bake 15-17 minutes.

-d.

also, i would like you to notice my pretty new blue bowl. we've had a gorgeous weekend here in san francisco and kris and i took the ferry over to sausalito yesterday and made a trip to heath ceramics. i want it all. if you're willing to deal with slight imperfections you can get a great deal (a teeny little crack discounted my bowl from $55 to $15!).

Strawberry Muffins

Almost every morning, I have yogurt with some kind of fruit, maybe a bit of homemade granola. And I confess, I can be a tad picky about my yogurt. While I would love to eat the full-fat French yogurt every day, it might be a detriment to my waistline and overall well being. So I have found a compromise with Stonyfield Farm. They make a very nice, creamy, fat-free plain yogurt that you can gussy up with fruit, jam, honey. And last week, there was this recipe in the lid. I am not, in general, a big fan of fruit in my muffins. Throughout my childhood, my mother made what were certainly delicious blueberry muffins in the summer months, but I would not eat them. No, I would only eat the blueberry-less blueberry muffins she made just for me. Picky child, I know. But now, I LOVE the blueberry muffin (and, in fact, cannot wait for farmer's-market-fresh blueberries so that I can make a batch to share with you!) and decided that strawberry muffins might not be such a stretch. While they cannot hold a candle to the blueberry muffin, these were tasty, not very sweet - and definitely healthy. If you want to make them a little more special - or just want a healthy dessert - slice them in half horizontally, pile fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream on the bottom, pop the top back on, and enjoy!

Strawberry Muffins
from Stonyfield Farm

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt (*I used fat-free)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and baking soda. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter, and vanilla. Toss chopped strawberries into the flour mixture. Then pour yogurt mixture into flour mixture and stir. Spoon batter into buttered muffin tins (or you can use muffin papers, if you like!). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are puffed and golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

- e

apple zucchini muffins

apparently erin and i had a psychic muffin moment. much like she had a freezer full of bananas to use, i had apples in the fridge that needed to be baked into...something. i too considered a bread of some sort but chose muffins because they are easy to make and easy to bring to work for a snack. this recipe is based on one from our moosewood restaurant new classics cookbook, i just made a few tweaks here and there to make it vegan. it uses no butter or oil so they are pretty healthy as far as muffins go.

apple zucchini muffins
(adapted from moosewood restaurant new classics)
makes 12 muffins
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose if that's what you have)
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons water
3/4 cup vanilla soy yogurt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup grated zucchini (1 medium zucchini)
1 cup peeled apple, chopped (about 1 apple*)

preheat oven to 350 and prepare a muffin tin with liners.

in a large bowl, sift togethers flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

in a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water. add soygurt and brown sugar and mix to combine. fold in zucchini and apples. stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just blended.

spoon batter into muffin tin. bake for 15 minutes, rotate the muffin tin, and continue to bake 10 - 15 longer until a paring knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

cool on a wire rack, enjoy!

*unfortunately for me this only used one of my three apples. look out for more apple-y baked goods to come...

-d

banana bread muffins

I often buy too many bananas and feel bad about throwing them away (I live in Boston and composting just is not an option at the moment) so I throw them in the freezer instead. This banana hoarding has been going on for some time now, and frozen bananas are starting to take over my freezer. So I decided to do something about it and make some banana bread. The easy out, I know, but I always love banana bread. AND, I like trying new recipes for banana bread - with or without nuts, using different spices, sometimes adding sour cream or creme fraiche - so this time I settled on the Silver Palate's version. I miraculously had all the right ingredients, but did not have an hour to wait for a loaf to bake. And thus, the muffins were born. I might also add that the muffin is slightly more portable than a slice of bread. The addition of whole wheat flour makes them seem healthier somehow, and I was very pleased with the result!

Banana Bread Muffins
adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

makes 12 muffins

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup shelled walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (plus extra for sprinkling on top)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with muffin papers.

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt together, stir in the whole wheat flour, and add to the creamed mixture, mixing well.

Fold in the mashed bananas, vanilla, walnuts and cinnamon.

Divide among muffin tins. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the extra chopped walnuts and a little cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are puffed and brown and a cake tester inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the tins.

- e