Zucchini Muffins

I got this recipe from my friend Laura a while back and had never tried it, until yesterday.  I changed the recipe to make it gluten-free, but other than that, I pretty much stuck to the recipe.  They were the perfect texture, nice and soft, but my first reaction was that they needed more SWEETNESS!  The sugar in the recipe is very low, but I thought that might be good to post for people who are trying to cut down on their sugar.  I have been eating them for breakfast over the past couple of days and they really are delicious!  I think once you start cutting sugar out of your diet, you get used to things without it.

I was thinking about tweaking the recipe and maybe adding banana or a little honey to keep it natural, but sweeten it up just a bit.  If you add the raisins, that would help sweeten them up too, I just didn't because I do not like raisins!  So play around with it.  Either way, they are a delicious treat!

Enjoy!
Kirsten

ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups zucchini
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1)  With a mixer, beat the sugar, vanilla, water, oil and eggs until well blended.

2)  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and xanthum gum.

3)  Add to the wet mixture and mix well.

4)  Fold in the zucchini and raisins.

5)  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 350F for about 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

NOTES:

~I used the gluten-free flour blend from the "Recipes for Gluten-Free Kids" cook book.  It's listed on my blog under the Gluten-Free Flour Blends tab.

~This recipe makes 1 dozen muffins.

~If your zucchini is watery (mine was because it had been frozen), drain it before adding it to the batter.  If you don't want to drain it, you could just omit the 4 tablespoons of water in the recipe and just dump it in!  Either way would work I'm sure.