Zucchini Orange Muffins with Chocolate Chips

My mom is the queen of muffins. She has her go-to recipes for muffins and loaves that she has been baking ever since I can remember. Muffins are her thing! Whenever I bake muffins I think fondly of Ma.

She also has a thing for zucchini loaf.

SO... one morning I was carrying through with my usually routine of watching Food Network whilst eating breakfast (yes I do get up earlier than necessary just so I can do this), I saw Anna Olson bake up a zucchini orange loaf. I see a lot of stuff that looks good on that show but when I saw this I KNEW I had to make it! My mother would be returning from a vacation soon and some zucchini baking would be the perfect welcome home treat.

Although, because muffins are such her thing, I often am reluctant to try a new banana bread, or zucchini loaf recipe... because around these parts her recipe is known as THE BEST. (At least in my opinion.)

But life is about taking risks or something like that so I gambled big time and made these! I like living on the edge. This recipe was different enough from her classic zucchini loaf however that I felt like I wasn't trying to fix something that was already perfect.

Also, I got to use zucchini that was fresh from our garden! Which just makes me giddy.

Zucchini Orange Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Original recipe from Anna Olson

Notes: The original recipe is for making a loaf... but I just love all things tiny and cute so I made individual muffins. You can easily turn muffin recipes into loaves and vice versa. Just be sure to change the cooking time accordingly! Muffins can take anywhere from 20-35 minutes to bake, while a large loaf can take up to an hour.

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups loosely packed, coarsely grated zucchini
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (if you so desire, you can omit these, or replace with something else such as dried fruit or toasted nuts)

1. In a large bowl, whisk to combine the oil, eggs, sugar, zest and vanilla
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the zucchini in with the flour mixture, using your hands to coat the zucchini strands with flour so that they don't clump together.
3. Combine the dry with the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Divide the batter into paper lined muffin tins, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake in a 350 (325 for hot ovens) oven, and check to see if they are done at 20 minutes. Mine took 20 minutes, but oven temperatures and times will vary. A toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin that comes out clean will tell you your muffins are ready!
5. Let cool a bit... then stuff your face.

Ps in case you were concerned, my mother absolutely loved these. A lot. Risks are worth taking.

Happy Baking with Zucchini this fall!

<3 Lari

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

IT'S AUTUMN AND I'M STOKED

GUYS. It's Autumn! I'm embracing it. Yes, I will miss summer and all it's wonderful fresh fruit, but Autumn is probably my favourite time of year. (or at least the beginning when the leaves are pretty... when it gets too brown, not so much.)

I love this time of year because of:

• PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING (especially lattes)
• big comfy sweaters
• colours like maroon, burnt orange, mustard yellow
• tights and socks
• lots of layers and scarves
• everything is just so darn beautiful
• apples, pumpkins and other squashes, cinnamon, warm beverages, pies, pears, plums etc etc etc.

Life just feels cozier.

You know what else feels cozy? Pumpkin muffins.
Make it even more cozier by adding (many) chocolate chips. Thank you Autumn, you rock.

Some notes on these: I am on the search for my favourite pumpkin muffin recipe, as I have not made them very many times at all. I tried this recipe, and they are good... but I don't know if they are the winning batch just yet. I will be trying more recipes until I find THE ONE! It's a tough job, but somebody must do it :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe Adapted from here

(I halved the original recipe, and ended up with 11 muffins)
Here's what I did:

• 1/2 all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk*
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I started with 1/4cup, which probably would have been fine but my chocoholic self peer pressured me to put more in...)

*Don't have buttermilk on hand? Me neither. So I make it! It is super easy: For every cup of regular milk, add about 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar. Stir, and let sit for a minute or so. The milk will look gross! But this is normal. Use this ratio for any other recipes that require buttermilk.

In a bowl, whisk together the two flours, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the brown sugar, molasses, oil and egg. Next mix in the pumpkin, then the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter into paper lined muffin tins and bake at 400 (375 for hot ovens) for about 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool a bit...
Then enjoy one of the best moments about this awesome season!

Great for a snack on the road, or with a warm mug of coffee.

Happy Pumpkining!

(I hope to bring many a pumpkin recipe to the table this year)

<3 Lari