I feel as though it’s been a while! I’ve been keeping a pretty good pace of blog posts recently, but the quantity of baked goods was getting to be too much. The kitchen was filled with Tupperware, so I had to take a break and let the existing baked goods dwindle. But now we’re back at it!

I made some Zucchini cornbread for dinner recently, and had some leftover zucchini that I needed to use up. I hate the taste of zucchini when it’s on its own, roasted or prepared in a real food dish, so I simply had to bake with it. And I also wanted to get some more pumpkin baking in. So these muffins were the obvious solution. I suppose I don’t need to share my whole thought process – sometimes the whole backstory of a bake is pretty mundane.

I am not going to be someone who tries to tell you that a muffin is healthy. Buuuut… these have two vegetables and are refined sugar free. Which is, I think, probably the best scenario if you’re going to have a baked good for breakfast! Sure, you could just have some healthy breakfast food. But if you’re going to have a baked good, these are the ones to have. I would argue these probably have better nutritional stats than most of the cereal aisle!!

And because of these nutritional stats, this is the first bake I’ve made that my niece has been able to eat more than a little lick of. This felt like a very monumental moment, so consider this her debut on the blog!! (Eating a muffin that has been pre-crumbled for her, after her mother graciously ate the chocolate chips out of it for her)

I know taking a two week break from baking is pretty standard for most people, but it has been a while for me! Things were feeling off! So it was good to be back in the kitchen again.

Because, I’m not sure what forces have been in action, but I feel as though I have taken a karmic blow recently. Ever since attending the Eras Tour, it has been one thing after another. The night after I got back, I got sick and then was unable to eat properly for five days (contributing to the lack of baking). Then, I was rejected from a job I really wanted and had put in some work to get. Then, I took my car in for its 50K service and was told I need to replace the battery, in the same month where I have to also pay for six months of car insurance. Then, my manager at work decides to enforce a new rule where you need to stay in the office for the full day on the days you go in (despite the fact she never walks near my desk), so I now am facing wasting even more time at my desk doing nothing. And then Molly is also experiencing some of the worst corporate political drama I’ve heard of in a while. All this to say, it has just been one thing after the other for me and my bank account and the people around me for about two weeks straight now!! I’m just hoping getting back into a baking routine helps combat that feeling of everything being a bit out of control.

Anyways… enough of my moping I suppose. Back to these muffins. They’re verrry moist and tender, because of the two vegetables. And I think you probably wouldn’t guess they’re refined-sugar-free if you didn’t know. The chocolate always adds a boost, and the cinnamon and spices round things out. They’re the kind of thing I find myself reaching for two of, just because they’re… so easy to eat.

This post has been a bit all over the place, much like I have been this November. If you make these, I hope it helps you reach equilibrium, like I am hoping it helps me.

Pumpkin Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Author: Audrey
Array: Array
Total Time: 0 hours

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (alternatively, another oil or melted butter)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini (no need to blot dry)
1 cup mini chocolate chips

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with liners, or grease it well.
In a large bowl, whisk together coconut oil, eggs, maple syrup, pumpkin, and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. It will be pretty thick.
Stir in shredded zucchini and mini chocolate chips, saving some for sprinkling on top before baking.
Divide your batter into the 12 muffin tins (a cookie scoop helps a lot here), and sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the top of a muffin bounces back when you press lightly, or when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean

Notes

Adapted from Erin Lives Whole