Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Zucchini Muffins

I discovered at my health screening that my cholesterol is the lowest and best since high school. Although I suffer from a genetic predisposition of high cholesterol (both parents have high cholesterol), even in high school and college I scored near the 300's for total cholesterol and weighed pounds lighter than I do now.  My cholesterol has never been as low as 224 and my ratio of good to bad cholesterol the lowest ever at 2.8, I can't help but attribute it to my new healthy lifestyle of eating. Granted, my weight is much more than college or high school, but am so excited to see such great numbers on my screening. To celebrate, I wanted to make a healthified version of my Mother's zucchini muffin recipe. Plus, I have many large zucchinis that need to be eaten before spoiling. So I shredded 5 large zucchinis (each at least one foot long), filled 3 large quart size freezer bags, and placed in the freezer for enjoyment this winter. I couldn't reach my mother for her famous zucchini muffin recipe and anyway, I wanted to find a recipe that used honey as a sweetener rather than sugar, so I searched online and found this whole wheat recipe using honey as a sweetener at AllRecipes.com. I did modify the original recipe slightly...so far the batter tastes great (come on, I know you all sneak a little of the batter when cooking). We will see how it tastes fresh from the oven!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup nonfat milk
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 cup grated zucchini

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin tins lightly with oil or spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Combine whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon, mix thoroughly.
  3. Mix the milk, slightly beaten egg whites, oil, honey and shredded zucchini together. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.
  4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

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