Mrs. B's best Zucchini Nut Muffins

The obscenely ginormous, huge, zucchinis from somewhere in Iowa.

Yesterday, when I came back from co-hosting a seminar, my husband met me at the door.

'I have a surprise for you', he announced grandly. 'You've never seen anything like this before!' he claimed and with a flourish presented me with these huge, green objects. 'Have you ever seen zucchini like this before?'

I had to admit I had not. I didn't even know they could get that big. Even the smaller of the two is larger than any zucchini I've ever seen.

Apparently our neighbor had been blessed by someone they knew with cucumbers and zucchini. They knew what to do with the cukes but had no idea what to do with the zukes. But, bless her heart, she knows I love to cook and that I love veggies. What she didn't know was that I particularly adore zucchini.  The kids of course wanted zucchini muffins.

No problema!



I would really recommend clicking on this picture to see the muffin larger as it doesn't really show it as well in the smaller picture.



My son won't touch zucchini unless it's converted in Zucchini Nut Muffins. I found the recipe in a Taste of Home magazine many years ago, adapted it to suit our palate and it's been a family favorite since then. When my son was a toddler at daycare I gave them this recipe. The first time they made this recipe the kids plowed through the first batch of muffins so fast they had to quickly whip up another batch.



 
Feel free to add or exchange ingredients. This is the recipe they way we changed it from the original.

Mrs. B's best Zucchini Nut Muffins


2 cups un-bleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
3/4 cup plain sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup applesauce (we use unsweetened)
2 cups packed, shredded zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup golden raisins (we don't use that because the kids don't like them)
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar or Washed Raw Cane Sugar for sprinkling (this will give you a crunchy texture on top - big yum! factor)


Pre-heat oven to 350F.


Combine sugar and eggs in a bowl; blend at medium speed for 2 minutes. Gradually add the oil; beating constantly for 3 minutes. Add the applesauce, vanilla extract and shredded zucchini and blend well. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Now, if you want a more pronounced walnut taste, toast them first until fragrant.


In a separate bowl mix the flours, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and ground flax seed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined but not overmixed.


Pour batter into 24 lined muffin cups or non-stick muffin tins and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar; bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

(You could substitute a half cup of craisins for the nuts and add some quick cooking oats to up the health-factor)



Easy Pizza Dough!

A few months ago one of my son's friends came over for a playdate. For lunch I thought we could all make pizza together. So, along with a base of flat bread I set our cheese, sauce and pepperonis. My son's friend refused to eat. To the evident embarrassment of his mother he pronounced the food 'yucky'.  Poor kid has never seen a pizza without the box....

We like to make our own dough when I have time. It's ridiculously easy!

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 + extra cup unbleached white  flour
1 packet yeast
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp + extra for the bowl olive oil
warm water (sorry, I don't measure)

Place 2 tablespoons of flour  in a small bowl.  Add sugar and yeast and about a half cup hot/warm water. Mix well and place in a warm spot.  When the mixture has doubled in size and become bubbly add the starter mixture to the rest of the flour. Add olive oil, salt and more water as needed and knead into a nice, elastic, dough.  If it's too stiff you'll have trouble keeping it from retracting later. The ideal dough is not stiff and not too sticky. Add more flour if too sticky and more water if too stiff.  Knead for about 5 -7 minutes. It's therapeutic. Now pour a bit of olive oil into a good size bowl and  put your ball of dough into it.  Since you want the dough to double in size make sure the bowl will easily accommodate the growth. Swish to distribute the oil. Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a damp towel and place the dough in a warm, draft free place until doubled in place.  I like the oven. I turn it on at 170 degrees (my lowest setting) and once warm turn it off.  I open the door for a moment so it can cool a bit more and then pop the bowl with the dough in there and close the door. Voila.

Once the dough has nicely doubled punch it down and divide into two. Hand stretch each piece into a nice piece of pizza base. I make mine rectangular as you can see.  Let rest for 10-15 mins in a warm place. If you like your pizza crust crunchy by-pass this step. Now comes the fun part. Toppings. I like to use Contadina's pizza sauce in their squirt bottle. It keeps well in the fridge. Apply a base of sauce. Some like it saucy. Some don't. We like it on the lean side. The kids like their pizza simple. Just add sauce, cheese and pepperoni. I like mine with tons of veggies and no meat or pepperoni. I also like to use minimal cheese on the bottom (just enough to hold the veggies in place and instead use some left over Brie (I live for that stuff) on top. Sprinkle with Italian herbs and pop in the oven at 370F. Bake until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Now, if you use lots of toppings you may need to keep it in the oven longer than if you make a basic cheese and pepperoni version. The nice thing here is the flexibility. Use up old marinara or spaghetti sauce and veggies.  I've even added left over steak from a steakhouse on the pizzas.  Be creative. Click on the pictures to see a larger version of my pizzas. Then drool.

My raw uncooked pizza featuring zucchini, mushrooms, onions, olives and brie.
Divine, I tell you, DIVINE!

Once cooked this pizza practically begs you to devour it at record speed.