This recipe might be my favorite muffin creation so far. Full of flavor with the sweet, tart raspberries, orange-flavored cranberries and the caramelized cinnamon-sugar crust on top, I had a hard time refraining from eating more than one. And with an entire zucchini also added in? I’ll take it anytime I can feel like I’m eating decadently while consuming some extra veggie nutrients as well!
I was infinitely excited to see my two-year-old, Julianne finally not scrunch her nose in disgust as we added the zucchini. She helped me blot the liquid from the zucchini gratings and flexed her cute little biceps as we talked about vitamins and veggies making her strong. My husband and I got a pretty big kick out of hearing her echo “strooooooooooooong!” in her toughest two-year-old voice with a body building stance. Talk about a welcome attitude shift towards zucchini! My muffins must be just that good (at least that’s what we’ll assume!)
It has truly been a blessing to see her regularly beg mommy to make muffins together. It’s become a fun “mommy and me” activity we can do without leaving the house which is nice, being 7 1/2 months pregnant and feeling my energy start to dip dramatically in this third trimester. My girl was hard enough to keep up with before I was pregnant and now the challenge seems to grow by the week, right along with the size of my baby bump. Thank goodness for 18 minutes of baking time to kick my feet up…
Just kidding. Mama’s dreaming. If only my little J-bird would remain occupied with one activity for that long. That’ll be the day! We usually spend that time cleaning up the sugar and flour that makes its way onto the floor and counters. Baking with toddlers might be a somewhat messy activity but hey, at least we have a healthy, whole-wheat snack with some fruits and veggies packed in there to show for it. Not to mention, as adults, we completely underestimate how much our little ones truly love to do activities together, from the menial every day tasks like sweeping or cleaning to baking and cooking. Quality time and “playing” can be as productive as you make it. Even if it takes a bit longer, they thrive on being allowed to help and do it with you. I know I need that reminder frequently!
“To a child, ‘love’ is spelled ‘T-I-M-E.'” – Zig Ziglar
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 c. sweetened vanilla almond milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 c. frozen raspberries
1/4 c. orange-flavored dried cranberries (Trader Joe’s carries orange-flavored cranberries, but regular work just as well)
1 small zucchini, grated, chopped, liquid removed/blotted with paper towels
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Finely grate a small zucchini using your cheese grater. This is actually a fast process – it took under 30 seconds to grate the whole zucchini. Collect the gratings centrally on the cutting board.
- Blot any liquid contents from the zucchini by pressing a folded over paper towel on top of the zucchini. Repeat with new paper towel until no liquid can be pressed out. Run your knife over the pile in both directions to crush it a bit further. Scoop the zucchini gratings into the mixing bowl.
- Thoroughly mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside (whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar & salt).
- Mix wet ingredients together in a bowl and add to dry ingredients.
- Fold in the zucchini gratings, raspberries & dried cranberries.
- Place paper baking cups in the muffin tin, spray lightly with cooking spray and distribute the batter evenly in each cup.
- Lightly sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar over the top of each muffin to create a little caramelized sugar crust as the muffins bake (optional).
- Bake at 400 for 18 min. Store in the fridge and heat up before serving for fullest flavor.
Caloric content: 190 calories per muffin