Zucchini Spice Muffins

First here’s the original recipe from the book Low Fat Living

Zucchini Spice Bread
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites or ½ cup fat-free egg substitute)
2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or canola oil
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°
Lightly coat two 8” x 4” loaf pans with no-stick spray.
In a large bowel mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs, add zucchini, honey, butter or oil, applesauce and vanilla. Mix.
Pour into the flour mixture and mix just enough to incorporate the ingredients.
Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly moist but not wet.
Cool slightly in pans, remove from pans and cool on a rack.
Makes 20 slices.
Nutritional information per slice: 157 calories, 2.1 g fat, 3.3 g protein, 33.1 g carbs, 2.5 g fiber

Here’s my tweaked version.

Zucchini Spice Muffins
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup Spenda granulated
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla
About a teaspoon or so of ground flax seed (I didn’t measure, I just sprinkled it in)

Spray muffin pan or foil muffin cups with Pam.
In a large bowel mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl beat eggs, add zucchini, honey, butter or oil, applesauce, vanilla and flax seeds. Mix.
Pour liquid mixture into flour mixture and mix just enough to incorporate the ingredients.
Fill muffin cups about 2/3 of the way to the top.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly moist but not wet.
Cool slightly before removing from pans/cups and cool on a rack.
Makes 20 muffins
Nutritional information per muffin: 126 calories, 2 g fat, 3 g protein, 24 g carbs, 3 g fiber.

Patti’s Notes: I basically subbed half the sugar for Splenda granulated, used canola instead of butter, decreased the honey to ½ cup and increased the applesauce to ½ cup. I buy unsweetened applesauce in the individual serving cups. They are ½ cup each. Even though they are unsweetened, they are still naturally sweet. I used the whole container to add moisture from decreasing the honey and a little sweetness that was removed by only using half of the honey. I added ground flax seed which I always think about doing but usually forget.
I decided to make muffins so I can freeze them for a good grab, nuke and go breakfast.
I shaved about 30 calories and 9 carbs per serving and they taste pretty darn good.

Easy Meter: Not too bad. Be careful when using a box grater. They tend to want to bite your knuckles. Just sayin'...

Tip of the Day: Spray your measuring cup with Pam before adding the honey. It will pour right out.

Added Bonus: It took 1½ zucchinis to make 2 cups of shredded. What to do with ½ leftover zucchini? Zucchini Chips. Why not? I sliced the remaining half zucchini as thin as I could. Put them out on a baking sheet, drizzled with EVOO, sea salt and ground pepper, tossed and put them in the oven (single layer on baking sheet) til crispy. About 20 minutes or so.

M-M-Good.