Zucchini Carrot Muffins |Cooking With Amanda

Does anyone else have a veggie-hating child? I would assume that I'm not the only one, it seems to be a fairly common problem. My solution? Hide that healthiness in some cute little carrot zucchini muffins that they won't be able to resist. Doesn't always work, I'll admit, but sometimes! Worth a try, at the very least.

My little guy actually wouldn't eat these ones. But only because he helped me make them and saw all of the horrible carrots and zucchini go into the bowl. Plus, I grated them so there's visible green and orange. We all know that that's a no-no in the vegetable-hating preschool world.

Which is why I generally puree the vegetables with the liquids in this recipe instead of just grating and stirring them in. It was wishful thinking that he would still eat them this way.

Oh well, at least the other two are perfectly happy eating as many vegetables as possible, in pretty much any form. So they gobbled up these healthy carrot zucchini muffins quite happily.

These mini muffins are on the savoury side as far as muffins go. They're not a sweet, have with your morning coffee for breakfast, pastry style muffin. They're hearty, full of whole grains and vegetables, with plain Greek yogurt instead of the usual oil or butter. Super healthy, and perfect for a mid-afternoon snack, preferably with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.

At least, that's how I enjoyed them. The kids thought that was weird. They're completely wrong on that.

Now to make another batch (without my ever present preschool sidekick) and puree those veggies so the little guy will eat them. He'll never know that he actually doesn't like his snack. I'm sneaky like that.

Print Save

Zucchini Carrot Muffins Recipe

Embed

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup finely grated zucchini, about 1 small
1 cup finely grated carrots, about 2 medium

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 24 cup mini muffin tin (or 12 cup regular muffin tin) with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, yogurt, zucchini and carrot (if you don't want any visible veggies this can be pureed in a blender or food processor instead).
Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Divide the batter between the 24 prepared muffin cups, heaping it up in each cup. For regular sized muffins, the 12 cups were filled to the top.
Bake for 16-18 minutes (or 22-24 minutes if making full size muffins) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Notes

Muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days, or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
These muffins can also be made with grated apple replacing the zucchini, which makes them slightly sweeter without increasing the sugar. They're great both ways, so use whatever you have on hand!