Who Doesn’t Like a Nice Muffin?
What’s more perfect than a warm muffin and a cup of coffee on a cool fall morning? Or maybe as a snack with a glass of lemonade on sunny afternoon? Oh muffins, what’s not to like? Such a perfect little package for all kinds of yummy ingredients. Not on quite the same level as pie, mind you, but these sweet little baked goods have their own unique way of satisfying.
This is one of our favorite go-to muffin recipes, tender and moist with a nice crumb. These little sweeties travel well so we’ve taken a muffin or two to work or, even better, packed a bagful for road trips. It’s a simple recipe that plays well with all kinds of fruit, veggies, nuts and chocolate, and we’re always looking for new ways to mix it up.
Today we’re featuring one of our favorites, fresh zucchini, spicy ginger and toasted walnuts. But we’ve also made these muffins more chocolaty with the addition of a few tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa, or switched it up with grated carrots, pecans and white chocolate chips. Then there’s the banana, espresso, chocolate chip and walnut version, or pumpkin pecan spice with a few butterscotch chips thrown in. You could use also butternut squash or sweet potato puree or grated apples or pears. Throw in toasted coconut, dried cranberries or cherries, or doll them up with a sprinkle of streusel. We’ve included a few of these options below, but zucchini ginger chocolate chip is a darn good way to start!
Zucchini Ginger Chip Muffins
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ginger
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup coconut or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup buttermilk (or ¼ cup milk + 1 tsp. vinegar)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup unpeeled, shredded zucchini
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- additional mini chips and coarse sugar, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 12-cup muffin tin or 24-cup mini muffin pan. Whisk together flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, oil, buttermilk (of milk/vinegar mixture) and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix to combine. Stir in zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, sprinkle with a few additional chocolate chips and a pinch of coarse sugar. Bake until lightly browned and tops spring back, 12-15 minutes for mini muffins, 20-25 minutes for regular muffins.
Options
- Carrot, pecan & white chocolate – Replace zucchini with grated carrots, walnuts with pecans, and mini chocolate chips with white chocolate chips.
- Banana Espresso Chip – Replace zucchini with mashed banana, omit cinnamon and ginger and dissolve 1 tsp. espresso powder in the milk.
- Pumpkin Spice – Replace zucchini with pumpkin puree, add 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. allspice and a pinch of cloves with the cinnamon and ginger. Top with butterscotch chips and pecans.
