Thanks for all your book and workout suggestions; I really appreciate them! My goal is to keep a positive, can-do attitude towards exercise and remind myself of the huge difference it will make in my quest to get healthy. I deserve this may have a bad rep in the finance world, but in this situation – I deserve to feel good and be healthy.
I talked to my parents last weekend, and it sounds like my Mom’s zucchini is still going strong, much to my Dad’s delight. So being the good daughter that I am, I decided to feature another zucchini recipe. Zucchini is such a versatile vegetable, and it should shock no one that I particularly enjoy it in breads.
Originally I contemplated making the more traditional zucchini bread, but decided to mix it up a bit and make muffins instead. This version combines zucchini and apples together, which makes it very easy to convince myself that these are super healthy for me.
And I’m pleased that after a few modifications, these fall in the mid/good-range. I decreased the amount of butter from the original recipe and replaced it with greek yogurt. Plus I used a combination of white and wheat flour. Overall, they turned out great and I’ve been enjoying a muffin with a cup of yogurt for breakfast.
These muffins are a great way to use up your zucchini, especially if you need to sneak it past family members who wrinkle their nose at this fine veggie. And don’t forget, you can shred the zucchini now and freeze it to make these yummy muffins this winter.
Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 apples, peeled and chopped (use 2 if they are large)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 zucchini, grated
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (for the topping)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar (for the topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly coat a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- To a small pan, add the chopped apples and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until soft, but not mushy.
- Drain remaining water from apples and remove about half the apple chunks. Mash the remaining apples with a potato masher. Set aside and let cool while you make the muffin batter.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar to remaining apples. Stir until apples are full coated in the cinnamon mixture. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together grated zucchini, butter, greek yogurt, egg, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and sugar. Add cooled mashed apples and stir until fully combined.
- Add white and wheat flour and gently fold into zucchini mixture. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Fill muffin tins about 3/4’s full of batter. Add a few apple chunks to the top of each muffin, lightly pressing the apples into the batter.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Then remove muffins from pan and place on a cooling rack until room temperature. Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Tanya
YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! 🙂
Thanks, Mackenzie! Yum describes them perfectly! 🙂
Oh my yummy goodness! These look great girl! TGIF Tanya!
TFIF Corina! These are definitely yummy!
These cute little muffins look healthy and tasty!
Have a happy weekend, Tanya! (and Max too!)
These babies are quite tasty and I don’t even feel guilty noshing on them (granted, I really feel guilty while I’m eating, only afterwards). 🙂 You have a great weekend too, Stephanie! Max says MEOW!
Yum!!!!! These look awesome. Thanks for sharing, and keep up the great work. 🙂
You’re welcome, Laurie! You have a great weekend!
Thanks for featuring my recipe 😉 I’ll definitely have to try them with the Greek yogurt!
You’re very welcome! Thank YOU for creating it. It turned out great with the greek yogurt and I need to do everything I can to still keep carbs on the menu! 🙂
I’m a big fan of zucchini breads/muffins, and anything apple so I’m sure these are wonderful!