{Healthy} Zucchini & Carrot Muffins

I have been looking for a way to get more healthy snacks in my husband and I's lunches, as well as for our around the house snacking. I was looking online for recipes for zucchini muffins, and I found some good ones. However, I love carrot-cake and anything to do with carrots-in-cakes, and I usually try to have some healthy snacks around the house. So, I made my own version using healthier options and added carrots to the muffins. I think it was a success!

My recipe and picture tutorial is below, and I hope you'll make it and love them. I shared the muffins at a friend get-together, and a lot of people loved them. If you have another idea, please feel free to comment and let me know how to improve my recipe! I should also mention that I do not have any fancy kitchen appliances, like food processors or stand mixers. You can make this recipe (and any other recipe I show on this blog) using simple kitchen appliances and utensils that most cooks have around the house.

Enjoy!

 
Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (or flour of choice)
• 1/3 cup quick-oats. Save some to put on top of the muffins for decoration.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 large eggs (or vegan egg substitute, for example: flax/chia seed egg)
• 1/4 cup light butter (or butter or oil of choice) I use butter since it makes them more moist than oil, and I use light butter to cut the calories.
• 2-3 teaspoon lemon zest (I love lemon zest. The more the better).
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1 large zucchini)
• 1 cup shredded carrot (about 2 large carrots)
• Cooking spray
• Optional: You can add nuts, raisins, or dried cranberries. I didn't have any available

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pan by spraying with oil spray or rubbing butter.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Stir until evenly combined.
3. In a medium bowl, combine applesauce, eggs, butter, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Whisk till evenly combined. Whisk in sugar. Stir in zucchini and carrots.
4. Pour wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients. Fold gently just until all dry ingredients are mixed in (careful to not over-mix). If over-mixed, the muffins can become very dense. Fold in 1/2 cup pecans or raisins, if using.                      
5. For muffins, you can use a ice cream scoop or a large spoon to scoop up the batter into each muffin cup. You need to fill muffins cups about halfway up the sides. Repeat if making 24 muffins total. You can also use this recipe to make a zucchini carrot bread loaf. For that, just put the batter into a prepared loaf pan.
6. Place some oats or nuts, if using, over batter evenly. Then bake the muffins for 14-17 minutes. If you want to make a bread loaf instead, that takes about 50-60 minutes to cook. Use a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin or loaf to see if it comes out clean.

I hope you enjoy these muffins, and if you have any improvements or suggestions, please feel free to comment!

God bless.