Baking From My Garden: Zucchini Muffins

In my house we love veggies. Even my children are pretty good about eating vegetables. This year we expanded our box gardens and added zucchini to our mix. I was pleasantly surprised how happy they were in their small little home. We have been pulling zucchini's off and I have been happy seasoning them and eating them for lunch. I have been using coconut oil and a few seasonings then baking them in the oven for 15 minutes making a healthy and tasty lunch. I even throw in some Bella mushrooms or tomatoes for taste.

Last night it was time to do some baking with my zucchini. Now that they are coming faster than I can eat them I needed to do something different with them. Instead of zucchini bread that I typically do I decided to make zucchini muffins. I changed the recipe up from what I did last year with my bread and they turned out so good! Even both boys loved them. I attempted to hide them in the cupboard but Chase has gotten good about jumping up on the counters and found them resulting in devouring an extra one.

Here is my recipe:

Zucchini Muffins

3 cups of flour (I used 1/2 white & 1/2 wheat)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/4 cups of dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon (plus or minus for taste, I like a little extra cinnamon)
3 eggs
1/3 cup of Virgin Coconut Oil
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract 
2 ripe banana's 
1/4 cup of Applesauce 
2 cups of grated zucchini 

Mash two ripe banana's and add in the cinnamon and put aside. I tend to have extra ripe banana's in my freezer. If you don't you can even use a food processor or blender to soften the banana's.

Grate up zucchini. One large zucchini equals approximately 2 cups.

In  large bowl mix eggs, vanilla, coconut oil, applesauce, and banana's.

Once mixed add in your baking soda, baking powder, sugar and flour.

After you have mixed all ingredients together add in your zucchini.

Make sure it is mixed well and add to your muffin pans. Bake at  325 for 30 to 40 minutes depending on your oven. Voila! You now have a yummy treat!

These are best right out of the oven though we discovered this morning that they were still soft and delicious for breakfast too!

This mix made 18 large muffins and 12 mini muffins.

Enjoy! Let me know if you like this recipe! Be sure to share them too! 

Box Brownies: I say Never Again!

I am into fitness and eating well. I believe in a healthy lifestyle for myself as well as my children. I also feel strongly in indulging from time to time. I think it helps keep balance in a healthy lifestyle. In our house, chocolate or dessert of some form is a necessity on Friday and Saturday night. We wait all week to have a sweet reward. Then when you discover you forgot to get to the bakery to get that "something", you better figure out a quick fix because you the four year old may have a melt down.

Last night right before dinner was when I realized I had failed on getting something for us. It may be the fogginess in my head which has come from this nasty cold I have. I did manage to get my kids fed, bathed and dressed yesterday...that in itself deserves rewarding. When I said out loud that there wasn't any cake the four year old started pouting and whining that we needed to go get something. I too was having my own meltdown inside yet it had just started to snow and I had just poured a Switchback (you know, to kill the cold) and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the grocery store.

I suggested we make brownies. Chase, the four year old, loves helping me cook or bake. This is something that we do together often. There are times that I will suggest baking just to reel him in from being the crazy kid he can be. I then looked in my cabinet to discover we did not have any brownie mix. I needed to come up with something or else the house could fall apart if we didn't get our weekend sugar dose. That is when I turned to my dear friend, Google.

Image taken from Inspired Taste

I typed in: homemade brownie recipe, and of coarse several hits popped up. When looking for recipes I always check how many stars it was given. There it was: Fudgy Brownies Recipe. I clicked on the link to the site for Inspired Taste, a food blog. Reading the post I decided this was what we would do. We were going to make some fudgy brownies!

Our baking project was in motion. The recipe was easy and as always, Chase helped me in the kitchen. I did make a few changes in the recipe that I will share. What I want you to know is that these brownies were so good! Delicious! Yummy! Fudgy! Right out of the oven these brownies were perfect. I even tried a small piece today, still just as fudgy and soft!

To get the full recipe click on Inspired Taste. I have it linked right to the recipe and directions.

Here is what I changed:

* I used 8 tablespoons of butter instead of 10

* It calls for 1 1/4 cup of white sugar. I changed it to 1 cup of white sugar and 1/3 cup of brown sugar.

* I used King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

*  3/4 a cup of Trader Joe's Unsweetened Cocoa

* I added 1/4 a teaspoon of baking powder

* I added 2 tablespoons of ground flax meal

* We added 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (of coarse we did!) 

* I did not add nuts to our brownies (though I am sure they would be just as good with walnuts)

I followed the directions exactly as they say to prepare it. We cooked ours for 20 minutes at 325 degrees then the last five I dropped it to 200 degrees just to be sure I didn't over cook them.

These truly are some of the best brownies I have ever tasted. I have no reason to buy box brownies with this recipe. If you like to bake, if you love chocolate, you must try this recipe. I know some of you may have set up some new guidelines for eating with it being the new year. I am not saying make this every weekend. Chocolate should be enjoyed in moderation. If you need to indulge or bring a dessert to an event, make some of these brownies!

Bake, Eat, & Enjoy. We did!