I was just playing around in the kitchen this morning and ended up making dozens and dozens of muffins–a happy accident. I actually merged and tweaked a couple of recipes and ended up with these muffins. They’re so moist and rich they don’t need butter or anything. They were delicious, hot out of the oven. I’m freezing a whole slew of them for future breakfast treats.
Amazing Raisin Pineapple Zucchini Bran Muffins
(This recipe started as a zucchini muffin recipe but it really does work perfectly well with any kind of summer squash)
- 8 eggs
- 2 c. oil
- 4 c. sugar
- 2 T. vanilla
- 4 c. shredded zucchini or other squash
- 6 c. flour
- 1 c. wheat bran
- 1 c. oat bran
- 5 t. baking soda
- 2 t. salt
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- 3 T. cinnamon
- 1 1/2 t. nutmeg (optional. I don’t usually add this.)
- 2 c. nuts (I used walnuts today)
- 2 c. raisins
- 1 can crushed pineapple, drained
- paper muffin cup liners
Mix all these ingredients together thoroughly in a gigantic bowl. (Really gigantic. And mix it well because it’s easy to end up with pockets of flour or squash that don’t quite get stirred in completely.)
Bake in muffin tins lined with little muffin papers at 325° for 18-20 minutes or until the toothpick or bamboo skewer comes out clean. Don’t over-bake. These muffins will get coarse and sometimes tough if you over-bake them. Cool on racks when you take them out of the oven.
I’m not positive how many muffins this recipe makes because they were disappearing very quickly as I pulled them out of the oven. I think I got close to six dozen muffins today.
As far as creative embellishments, this recipe just begs for embellishing. I will use any kind of nut I have on hand, including pistachios. I’ll also use dried cranberries instead of raisins sometimes. I occasionally add almond extract to substitute for part of the vanilla. Once in awhile, I might throw in a finely chopped apple or unripe pear instead of raisins. It also works to substitute a cup of grated carrots for one of the cups of grated squash.
If this recipe is just too enormous for your family, you can neatly divide the recipe in half and it works out well. Don’t forget that once the muffins have cooled down, you can wrap and freeze them.
BK
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