Sunday, November 30, 2008

Zucchini Nut Muffins... and a new look!

As you can see, we are testing out some changes to the website. All seems to be smooth for now, but if you happen to see any issues, please don't hesitate to send us a note! We hope you enjoy the new look!

We bring this holiday week to a close with 12 recipes, 9 of them being new - sticking with the new ones, our favorites this time were the Spice-Brined Turkey with Cider Pan Gravy, Chocolate Cherry Brownie Bites and that Turkey Alfredo Pizza.

With all of the leftovers from Thanksgiving, I felt the urge to get the oven goin' again for a snack... hey, I can't help it! Jeff made a passing comment earlier in the week that is had been awhile since we've made muffins... so I made a mental note and decided to try these Zucchini Nut Muffins today.

Filled with shreds of juicy zucchini, these healthy muffins are decidedly moist with a well-developed flavor thanks to a variety of ingredients. I used our usual combo of all-purpose and whole-wheat pastry flour, but you could use completely all-purpose or switch the pastry flour with white whole-wheat flour if you happen to have it on hand.

For a nutty richness, toasted chopped walnuts are thrown into the mix, along with chewy pieces of dried cherries for a sweet-tart bite. Always bringing an intoxicating aroma, we also added a few shakes from our favorite Vietnamese cinnamon to ratchet up the flavor. Rather than using white granulated sugar, we sweetened these muffins with complex pure maple syrup as part of the wet ingredients. While we did add a bit of canola oil to give the muffins a pleasant texture and mouth feel, we did use a larger amount of applesauce to keep the fat down - this duo also played into their moistness.

Since these muffins didn't have any eggs in them, I found the texture to be a little on the heavier side. The baking powder did do its job, giving them some lift and rise, but they didn't seem to be as light as muffins we normally make.

Even so, the taste made that a moot point for us and we didn't mind. Since we used soy milk in these, I believe the muffins can be considered vegan, but I'm not an expert on that. If you don't have or like soy milk though, don't let that deter you... regular milk would work just fine.


7 comments:

  1. Love the new look! Your hounds at the top are just too cute. :)

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  2. Sounds like you've been very busy. I too enjoy the new look. I finally got around to trying the Pumpkin Foccacia from Cooking Light and it was delicious and very true to your description. I agree that next time I will probably add more cheese as well.

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  3. Hi Joe!

    I've already left one message today, and here I am again!? I've sometimes wondered why your blog has two places for comments, first under the day's entry, and then again with the recipe.
    The other thing I wonder from time to time is do both you and Jeff do the cooking or is it primarily you? You often say "we" cooked a certain recipe.
    I have no idea why I wonder these things. :-) I just do! LOL!

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  4. new site is great...

    I like being able just to keep scrolling backwards easier... by clicking on "older posts" ....

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  5. These look great--I love that they are vegan! I am definitely making these this week :o)

    I love the new look of your website!

    Courtney

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  6. Love the new look. One comment though: My eyes are getting too tired and old to read that small print.

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  7. Kristin - Thanks!

    Kelly - Glad you gave it a try!

    Sue - This is just the way blogger is set up. I have to "post" the recipe in a separate area and then link back to it on the main blog post. Does that make sense?

    And no, Jeff doesn't do any of the cooking... I've just gotten into the habit of including him though with the "we"!

    BV - Glad you like it!

    Courtney - Enjoy!

    H&E - I made an adjustment to the blog posts and text size... let us know!

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