“Zukes Alors!”

My zucchini and pepperoni pizza took care of half a zucchini, but 27 more sat chilling in my fridge. And although I find both zucchini bread and muffins irresistible, I wanted something slightly more creative, something that reflected the warm spring sunshine that finally made an appearance this past weekend. A bag of juicy lemons picked from my parents’ backyard caught my eye, and the wheels in my brain started turning.   

 

After a few minutes of flipping through my binder of saved recipes, I found the one I wanted. I made a batch of lemon-zucchini muffins last summer when I got myself into the same “sale-on-zucchini” predicament, and both then and now, the baked beauties were gobbled up the minute I pulled them out of the oven.

 

 

Lemon-Zucchini Muffins

modified from CL’s Lemon-Zucchini Muffins 

I add extra lemon zest for a brighter lemon flavor, and you can even mix a bit of zest in with some sugar to sprinkle on top. These will keep in the refrigerator in a Ziploc bag for up to a week. Just pop in the microwave for a few seconds for a tasty pick-me-up!

2 c. flour

½ c. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

zest from 1 lemon

1 medium zucchini, shredded

¾ c. skim milk

juice from 1 lemon

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp sugar (opt.)

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour through lemon zest. Make a well in the center.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together zucchini through egg. Pour wet ingredients into the well in the flour mixture, and stir until just incorporated. Do not over-stir!
4. Evenly distribute the muffin batter between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the top of each with a pinch of sugar, if using. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes until tops turn golden. Remove immediately from muffin cups and cool on a wire rack.

 

 

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