Zucchini Cranberry Walnut Muffins

“Zucchini Bread.  What? You can put zucchini in bread? Why on earth would you do THAT?” a friend said to me on the phone the other day.

“No, I swear, it’s delicious.  It makes the bread super moist and–” I started to explain.

“But wouldn’t it taste like…ZUCCHINIS?!” she questioned, somewhat exacerbated.

Clearly, my perplexed friend was not quite getting it.

“No, the zucchinis take the place of  part of the oil, or moisture requirements.  It makes for a very moist bread.  You can’t really taste the zucchinis at all, partially because they’re grated.”

And thus, my somewhat explanation of zucchini bread was formed: a moist, cake-like bread that needs less oil or butter than the average baked good because the all-powerful moisture that is shredded zucchini adds nutrition, texture, and clearly delicious flavor in its place.  Prepare this zucchini bread with cranberries, or walnuts as they compliment the flavors nicely.  Or, bake by itself for an easy, surprisingly tasty zucchini and spice bread.

Zucchini Cranberry Walnut Muffins

There are numerous variations of zucchini bread, many of which involve chocolate or fruit.  For this fruit and nut variation of zucchini bread, see Elise Bauer’s cooking blog Simply Recipes (the original can be found here).

Ingredients:

* 3 cups zucchini, grated (usually two large, or three small zucchinis)

* 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter

* 1 1/3 cup sugar

* 2 eggs, beaten

* 2 teaspoons vanilla

* 2 teaspoons baking soda

* Pinch of salt

* 3 cups all purpose flour

* 2 teaspoons cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

* 1 cup walnuts, optional

* 1 cup dried cranberries

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Begin by preparing the zucchini: remove stems and peel off hard rubber skin.  Using a regular cheese grater, grate two to three zucchinis until you have around 3 cups.  I find that on average, one zucchini usually yields one grated cup of zucchini.

2.) Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla to a standing mixer and mix to combine.

3.) Add melted butter, zucchini, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda.  Mix until fully integrated.

4.) Slowly add flour, one cup at a time until dough forms.  Scrape down sides of mixer and mix one last time.

5.) Add cranberries and walnuts.  Mix to integrate.

6.) Pour batter into a well-greased standard baking pan, or 12 cup muffin pan.  Bake until a knife comes out clean–about 20 minutes, but maybe more.

7.) Transfer muffins (or bread) to cooling rack and serve with butter, or jam.  Enjoy!

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