Zucchini Almond Muffins/Zucchini Almond Bread (Gluten-Free/Dairy Free)

If your garden runneth over with the bounty of summer zucchini, this is a great way to use them. I like to grate any extra zucchini as the season goes on and freeze it in 2- and 4-cup portions so it is all ready to go when I want to bake.  Also, that way I have garden zucchini muffins all year long! Zucchini also works great roasted and pureed into a zucchini sauce.  On the outside chance your family is a touch *particular* about green things, then using zucchini puree is definitely a good option.  As an aside, you can also substitute zucchini puree in lots of recipes where you would use apple sauce. 

I actually find that they work better with frozen/thawed zucchini because the zucchini releases so much water when it thaws.  That way these aren't all greasy like so many zucchini muffins and zucchini breads are with the water left in the mixture to repel the oil out of the muff.

Flour note: My favorite GF flour is a homemade combo of freshly ground buckwheat groats combined with any mix of garbanzo/brown rice/amaranth/sorghum/teff.  Of course you could use gluten/wheat flour of any kind here, just omit the ground chia. 

Recipe Sub notes: I have had great success cutting back oil and subbing in apple sauce, pumpkin or pureed squash and yam.  Also grated carrot works really well in place of zucchini if you like.  Any sugar will work but I love the caramel-y flavor that the coconut sugar lends. Coconut oil could be used in place of the olive oil but I'm just not a big fan of the flavor of coconut oil in my baked goods. You might love it!

Zucchini Almond Muffins (or bread)  

• 2C  flour (any type you want- see note for GF) 
• 1C  almond flour or almond meal 
• 2Tbl  ground chia seeds
• 1Tbl  baking powder
• 1tsp  cinnamon
• 1/2tsp baking soda 
• 1/2tsp sea salt  
• 1/2C  olive oil (or coconut oil)
• 3/4C coconut sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2C almond milk
• 2C grated zucchini

 Optional: 1/2 cup mini choc chips, blueberries, nuts or the like

Directions
Preheat oven to 350deg. Grease either 4 mini loaf pans, 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffin tins.

In large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together thoroughly.

In separate bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and milk- then mix in the zucchini.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, then fold in your optionals if using.  Scoop the batter into your pans or muffin tins and bake!

Mini loaf ~35 min
Muffins ~22 min
Mini Muff~12 min

This recipe adapted from Zucchini Almond Bread in Nourishing Meals; Healthy Gluten-Free Recipes for the Whole Family. 

Full size muffs with blueberries and grated zucchini

Mini muff with pureed zucchini and chips, also delish!

Healthy Delicious Brownies (Gluten Free/Dairy Free/Grain-Free/Refined Sugar-Free)

These brownies haven't lasted more than 24 hours in our house.  As you will see, they are quite appropriate for breakfast and snacks so they are never long for the world.  And in this house where my oldest kiddo won't eat protein, this is oh, so satisfying!  These are so fast to make and (I think this is a good thing) not too rich.  The recipe I adapted this from used just nuts and no garbs, but I think the texture benefits from the addition of the beans giving it a more moisturefull crumb.  They are a bit reminiscent of Chocolate Chip Blondies.  I Recommend getting enough ingredients to make two batches because they will go fast.

Killer Brownies

• 1cup raw walnuts or pecans (or try almonds and let me know!)
•  ⅓ cup cocoa powder 
• ½ teaspoon baking soda 
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt 
• 1cup garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained 
• 2 large eggs 
• ½ cup maple syrup 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• Optional (not optional)- 2-4 Tbls mini semi-sweet choc chips

Directions
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8-inch glass baking dish.

Place the nuts into a food processor fitted with the “s” blade. Process until very finely ground, stopping just before they turn into nut butter. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and pulse again to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients and process again until smooth. You will still have tiny bits of nuts visible- this is OK even if you are a nut-in-your-brownie type like me.

Pour batter into baking dish. Spread evenly into pan with a rubber spatula or spoon and sprinkle on and lightly swirls in the chips if using. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.

Adapted from The Nourishing Meals Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS,  CN

Roasted Garbanzo Beans with Nutritional Yeast (Gluten/Dairy free)

This is a new twist on an old favorite. It was over a year ago that I originally wrote about Roasted Garbanzo Beans and our consumption has not changed around here except for a slight hiccup during my first trimester when all-things-not-hot-and-sour-soup were off the list.  Since clearing that hurdle, we are all in again.  I rarely deviate from my favorite mix of Old Bay seasoning and Curry powder, but on a whim the other day, I used some Nutritional Yeast I had in the drawer and it was DYNAMITE! 

I keep hoping I will magically drum up the courage to make Nutritional Yeast 'cheese' sauce, but somehow I just keep forgetting.  I know it is all the rage in vegan cheese sub-in's but I am a little scared.  Mostly because its called nutritional yeast. I mean, really.  The name's a little rough.  Even so, its delicious on popcorn, so it must be delicious on garbs, right? 

Because of the shear volume of consumption of these around here, I always make these from dry beans, but you can use canned beans if you want, just try for a lesser sodium brand and start in step 2.

Roasted Garbanzo Beans (preheat oven to 425)

• 1lb dry garbanzo beans or 2 cans, drained and rinsed
• 2-4tbls olive oil (use how much you want or are comfortable with, I just drizzle it out of my bottle and coat the garbs)
• ~1/2tsp salt
• ~1/4tsp freshly ground pepper
• ~1/4cup Nutritional Yeast

Directions
1. Toss your dry garbs in a pot of water with at least 3 inches water over the top of the beans and bring to boil, then simmer gently for about 2 hours, then drain. 

2. In small/medium bowl, toss the garbanzos with the oil, then add the S, P and NY.  Spread the beans in a single layer out on a cookie sheet and roast approximately 25-35 minutes, stirring and flipping them every 10  minutes or so.  They should generally be firmly chewy when done.  I like it when I occasionally over cook a batch and have garbanzo nuts, but Mike and I differ there...

* You could very easily make these and a batch of Chocolate Chip Blondies and be set with a delicious power snack combo.

Whole Wheat Tasty Muffins

AKA: MamaFawn's Whole Wheat, Flaxmeal, Zucchini, Carrot, Applesauce, Banana, Molasses, Reduced Sugar, Low-Fat Muffins.

AKA: Power Muffins

Mia loves these.  Mike loves these.  I loved these.  They are neither gluten-free, nor dairy-free, but they are amazingly tasty and packed full of goodness for big and little ones alike.  This recipe is heavily modified from a zucchini bread recipe originally in a Cooking Light cookbook.  This was originally motivated by trying to find a delicious way to deliver major amounts of nutrients to the little one, but quickly morphed to Mom & Dad's favorite morning snack.  This is one of the few things I truly miss in my wheat-free world.  I have to continue to develop my wheat-free option, so far I'm not there.  Anyway, these have snuck green veggies into even the most discerning Mini-tasters.

~Makes 18-20 small muffins or 12 muffins and a loaf~

~I usually freeze 12+ muffins and pull out from the freezer as needed~

3c shredded zucchini/carrot*

4c flour **

1/3c -1/2c white sugar (or less, as you like it.  The original recipe called for 1c!)

1/4c brown sugar

5t baking powder

1.5t cinnamon

1/2t salt

1/2t nutmeg

1.5c milk, soymilk or yogurt***

2t vanilla extract

2lg eggs lightly beaten (or egg substitute)

6T vegetable oil****

1/2c or so unsweetened applesauce (optional)

3T or so blackstrap molasses (optional, great for flavor and extra iron)

1-2 bananas, either smushed up or finely chopped (optional, good for natural sweetness and potassium)

1.  Preheat oven to 350°

2.  Mix dry ingredients in big bowl and make a well in center

3.  Mix wet ingredients together and add zucc/carrot

4.  Add zucc/carrot/misc.  mix into center of dry ingredients stirring just until combined

5.  divide evenly between muffin tins &/or loaf pans (either use cupcake liners or non-stick spray)

6.  Cook muffins 30-40 min, loaf pan usually requires 50-60min. 

* I use whatever is on hand or sounds good.  Maybe even some frozen, drained spinach would be good for some extra nutrients?

**I usually use about 2.5c whole wheat, 1c white and .5c flax meal.  Use whatever you like to mix

*** Use nonfat for big people if you care, or use full fat for the babies, depending on your goal!

**** I usually use only 3T oil and 3T applesauce in addition to adding extra applesauce for fun, as with the milk, modify your fats as you see fit for your needs