Carrot & Zucchini Muffins

Somer, who writes at Vedged Out, asked me recently if I bake most days. And? Yes. I do. Between the teenager and toddler, not much is left over. I don’t buy packaged treats very often so if we want a treat, off to the kitchen I go. If it is hot or I want to stock the refrigerator, I’ll some days skip baking and make raw treats, like these Apple Cobbler Bars I made this past week:

It doesn’t have to take a long time either. I made these muffins while dinner was baking, they went in and by the time dinner was eaten they were cooling. They are not an overly sweet muffin, they take to eating plain or having a little jam with them. The toddler was crazy over them and ate 2 after dinner. Now that he can see over the counter, nothing is safe…..a little hand searching for the cooling rack. They should make a nice breakfast for him as well tomorrow!

The “hiding” of vegetables is kind of cheesy, it does work though. If you have vegetable haters, they won’t notice the specks of green and orange. The key is finely grating – and gently squeezing the moisture out of the zucchini. Oh, and they are accidentally vegan and made with whole wheat.

And a perfect use for farmer market finds!

Carrot & Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups white whole wheat flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar, preferably organic
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil, used sunflower
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup finely grated carrot (peeled, about 1 large)
• ½ cup finely grated zucchini (ends trimmed, about 1 small)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°, line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners.

After grating the zucchini gently squeeze in your hands over the sink to remove excess moisture, then measure. If using a box grater, use the small holes on the side panel to grate.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stir the oil and vanilla into the milk, add to dry and stir till just mixed. Fold in the vegetables and stir till mixed in.

Divide equally between the cups, bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Do watch to avoid over baking. Vegan quick breads and muffins can go from perfect to over baked quickly.

Let rest for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store leftover muffins covered. For best results eat with 24 hours of baking.

Makes 12 muffins.

~Sarah