Do you know the muffin man?

I'm not really obsessed with muffins right now. Really, I'm not. I mean, sure, they're really quick and easy to make. Sure, they're good to have on a road trip and my kid actually eats them. And you can adapt them to suit your taste in so many ways. And they're perfect portion control. And...



Fine. I'm obsessed. But with good reason. Did you SEE that muffin?? These ones are particularly addictive. Not only because they taste so darned good, but because you know they're so healthy that there's no guilt involved for making them. I usually make a batch of these every week until we burn out, wait about a month, and start all over again. My friend Abby got it from a friend of a friend of a friend, who got it from some unknown cookbook. I hope you'll forgive my lack of proper citation, but I'm hoping that the recipe has changed enough by now that it wouldn't be an issue. I've certainly made plenty of my own adjustments to healthify these little gems without sacrificing on taste.



The Friend-of-a-Friend Zucchini-Carrot Muffin
Don't let the long ingredient list scare you - it's mostly stuff you have lying around already. Makes 12-18 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 plain yogurt or sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
zest from 1 lemon
1 1/2 cup coarsely grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small zucchini)
1/2 cup grated carrot (about 1 large carrot)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin with paper cups.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and whisk thoroughly. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugars with the eggs, then add oil, yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest, mixing to combine thoroughly. Add zucchini and carrots to the liquid mixture and mix to combine. Add the dry mix to the liquid mix and stir until just combined (do not over-mix). Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake until tops are browned and springy, about 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove muffin to rack to finish cooling.