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Saturday, August 07, 2010

Chocolate for Breakfast: Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

I hope you can forgive me for being on a food kick lately--I have more crafts and cleaning product ideas for all of you, I swear. But the markets are overflowing with good stuff and I have to take advantage of this stuff while it's cheap.

Mr. Devlin was considerate enough to remind me recently that there is a distinct lack of chocolate in the house. I'm surprised he didn't start frothing at the mouth actually. He really asks very little of me (verbally); most of my pressure for perfection is self-manufactured, due to a genetic quirk....that means there are more just like me (muwahahahaha).

Back to the chocolate famine....I knew I had to act quickly before he got crazy-eyes and started doing that thing with the kitchen where he just opens the pantry door, stares, sighs and then closes the door again. It's pathetic to watch a grown man act like he's starving. Hunter/gatherer he is not.

So this morning I hit the kitchen early and whipped up a batch of muffins. Thing 1 stumbled to the table in due time and I enjoyed telling her that she could have chocolate for breakfast--"you know, if you want to. " I'm sure she thought I'd hit my head. I'm all for providing stability and consistency for my sweet babes but every once in a while I feel the need to throw them off my trail, keep 'em guessing, you know. Like I'm sooo predictable, with my healthy breakfasts and fresh fruits and veggies and .....well, yeah, I am but she didn't figure that out until after she scarfed down her jumbo muffin.

Want some? Crank up the the oven to 400, Edna, we're having zucchini for breakfast.

This recipe yields 12 large (think coffee house) sized muffins. If you don't have the large tins, use the standard sized one but you'll need 18-24 OR you can make this into  some tea bread loaves, but plan on a different baking time. Regardless of the size, spray the pan and line with muffin liners (or a bit of parchment in the bottom of your loaf pan).

Remove the ends of a small zucchini and grate. You need a cup of zucchini. If you have more than that, you can freeze the rest for later. If you are wondering why you even need zucchini for this, it's to add moisture to the cake without making a soupy batter. There are similar recipes out there that have sauerkraut in them--don't groan, it's yummy good stuff with nominal fat added.

In a small bowl, whisk together  the following:
2 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of veg oil (or feel free to substitute an equal amount of applesauce)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt or sour milk

Just whisk this all together until blended.

In a larger bowl, blend together
2 1/3 cups AP flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, blending together with a fork or wooden spoon (see, I don't always have to have my mixer going!). Just blend until most of the dry is incorporated before adding in the zucchini and 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Scoop into pans and bake for 25-30 minutes (for large muffins). Test with a toothpick if you aren't sure-the toothpick should come out clean from the center.



You can wait for these to cool but there's no need. Keep any remaining ones in an airtight container.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Delicious. You crack me up so much with your writing. Really, you are rich, girl.