Easy & healthy zucchini mini muffins

Yesterday was one of those days.

It wasn't even 9am and O spilled his smoothie all over the floor, he didn't want to go into his car seat, the Roomba ate up the dogs puppy training pad and I had conference calls lined up all day long.

I'm wondering why I even got out of bed...

At this point, it was noon and I opened the fridge to eat something for the first time all day and I had nothing but zucchini in there. I always buy so much of it at the grocery store with the hope of making my famous (well...famous in my house) protein packed zucchini lasagna, but I never do. So you'll typically see me spending the rest of my week making zucchini noodles, zucchini fries, and these super delish zucchini mini muffins.

These bring me back to when my mom used to make zucchini loaf. It was possibly the best loaf I've ever tasted. I always try to remake the recipe, but it never turns out the same. And I'll be honest, these don't exactly come close, but they still taste amazing!

This recipe is pretty damn simple, and what I like about it is that you have the same amount of zucchini as you do flour, so if you need to hide some veggies in your little one's diet, this is a great way to do it! Plus you can add walnuts or chocolate chips if you like. I prefer to keep them simple, but you do you!

Ingredients

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs at room temp
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups zucchini, grated with excess water drained (approx. 1 medium zucchini)
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray to prevent sticking (I use this coconut oil spray), or line with mini muffin liners.

2. In a large bowl, whisk coconut oil and maple syrup until combined. Add each egg one at a time and beat well, then add milk.
TIP: if your coconut oil starts to solidify when you add your maple syrup (if it was cold), just warm it slightly in the microwave/oven in a heat-safe bowl).

3. Add baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and vanilla and whisk until combined.

4. Stir in grated zucchini.

5. Add the flour in thirds and stir until just combined.

6. If you're adding chocolate chips or nuts, now is the time to fold them in (optional).

7. Bake at 350F for 18 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Let the muffins cool in the muffin pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

I store these suckers in the freezer and take them out as snacks for O. I'll take them out the morning of and let them defrost on their own (takes about 30 mins), or I'll warm them in the toaster oven. They keep frozen for about 3 months.