Love, Loss and Zucchini Muffins

We had an awful night last night. Our dear pet rat Miso died unexpectedly. We loved her very much.

It's hard for me to get excited about anything right now. But I had a lot of leftover zucchini in my fridge (from a recipe for zucchini pancakes that is soon to be posted) and as soon as I saw Debby's blog posting of her family's Top Ten Holiday Weekend Dishes I knew just what I was going to do with those zucchini.

My kids have been making zucchini bread with their Great Grandma Dora and now their Great Aunt Viv since the day they were born (well, almost). So naturally, I was a little nervous wondering just how they were going to react to a veganized recipe with 100% whole wheat flour and succanat. But I had nothing to be worried about. The muffins were a major hit!

I made four dozen and the kids delivered care packages to the neighbors. Usually I am worried about gifting healthyish food like this, but I don't think I have anything to worry about with these.

Kid Tested, Kid Approved Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
adapted from a recipe from Happy Healthy Long Life

Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
 2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup soy milk (regular, not lite) or almond milk
3/4 cup applesauce + more if batter is too dry
1 cup organic organic succanat
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
2/3 cup good quality vegan chocolate chips
For egg substitute: mix 1 TBS of flax meal + 3 TBS of water--set aside
optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon.

In a medium bowl stir together nut milk, applesauce, succanat, vanilla, & flax/water mixture.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture & stir until just combined.

Fold in the shredded zucchini, chocolate chips, & optional walnuts.

Divide batter equally into 12 cup muffin pan lined with cupcake papers. Bake for 25 minutes.

Let cool completely and transfer to zip lock baggies to retain the moisture. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Have you veganized/healified any long standing family favorites? How did your family react?