Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Zucchini Spice Muffins (GAPS : primal : paleo : grain-free : gluten-free)

In this season of abundant summer squash, I often have fridge drawers loaded with zucchinis. One great way to use zucchini is to make muffins. These zucchini spice muffins are sweet and tasty. What a great way to eat your veggies!

I love that these muffins even pass the 5-year-old test, despite the fact that my daughter seems to have reached the stage of being suspicious of most green foods (which she used to love).

Zucchini Spice Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

  1. Melt butter or coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. 
  2. Meanwhile, combine the eggs, salt, vanilla extract, almond extract, spices, and optional baking soda in a large bowl.  If using an immersion blender, pulse a few times to combine. Otherwise, mix to combine with a whisk or mixer.
  3. Add the honey to the butter (or coconut oil) and stir slightly.  Pour this mixture into the wet ingredients and blend well with immersion blender or mixer.
  4. Remove the ends from the zucchinis, and shred them with a box grater. There is no need to peel them before shredding. 
  5. Measure out the coconut flour.  Since coconut flour clumps readily, it will need to be sifted if you are not using an immersion blender.**
  6. Pour the coconut flour into the bowl with the wet ingredients.  Use an immersion blender or mixer to thoroughly combine all ingredients, making sure there are no lumps.  (Since coconut flour does not contain gluten, there is no worry of over-mixing it).
  7. Fold in the shredded zucchinis and optional raisins.
  8. Line a muffin tin with paper cups.  Scoop the muffin batter into the paper cups.  I like to use a 3-Tb scoop for this, but you could just use a large spoon.  The cups may be quite full if your zucchini was rather large, but this is fine.
  9. Bake muffins in 325 degree oven for about 40-50 minutes, until muffins are set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 
  10. Remove from oven and cool.  Delicious with a pat of butter and a big glass of raw milk or milk kefir!  Pair these muffins with bacon or eggs for a hearty meal.
Time-saving tips:
*I do not add baking soda to my muffins, as they seem to come out fluffy enough from mixing with an immersion blender (and Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride cautions about using too much baking soda as it can further deplete stomach acid and GAPS people tend to already have low stomach acid).  But if you want your muffins to be more fluffy, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp baking soda in step 2.  More for more fluffy, and less for less fluffy. Watch out, though, that you don't fill your muffin cups very full if you add the baking soda.
**If you use an immersion blender to combine the ingredients, you can skip the step of sifting the coconut flour.  This also gives you less dirty dishes!
***While you are at it, why not make a double batch of muffins and throw one dozen into the freezer?  It doesn't take much more time, and they will make a very easy breakfast for some other week.

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14 comments:

Debra said...

Saw this on Pinterest. I must try these, they look delish!

Anonymous said...

Mine did not rise or look anything like yours. Is it missing baking soda??

Sarah Smith said...

I don't put baking soda in mine. But I do use an immersion blender, which seems to make them more fluffy. You could add some baking soda if you like. I'd start with 1/4 tsp, maybe even 1/2 tsp if the cups aren't very full.

Anonymous said...

I'm another "anonymous." I wish I'd seen the comment before I started, since I actually wondered beforehand whether you forgot to list any leavening agent. Mine didn't rise either, and I used an immersion blender.

Melissa - Tasmania said...

Do you squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini before you fold it in?

Unknown said...

I can't wait to try these and use up some of our zucchini's.
Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Is it possible to use almond flour instead of coconut flour?
Thanks !!!

Sarah Smith said...

Sorry, this recipe won't translate easily to substituting almond flour, as coconut flour is so very different (and requires many more eggs) than almond flour.

Russell DiSilvestro said...

These are SOOOOO good! I loved them! When I made them, then everyone gobbled them up so fast…the spices went together so well!

Anonymous said...

Your medium and my medium zucchini are obviously not the same. My batter was soooo dry, and it made 24 full-to-the-top muffins. How many cups of shredded zucchini do your two medium size ones yield?

Sarah Smith said...

I would guess I used about 1.5-2.5 cups of shredded zucchini.

Susan Staus said...

Thank you so much for this recipe!!!! I cannot wait to try it!!!!

julz said...

Hi Sarah, this comment does not relate to your delicious recipe (I know it is because I have tried so many of your cooking and never once was disappointed). I have read many articles and suggestions on your web in regards to the Gaps diet. I wanted to get your suggestion. I am a mom of 3 boys, one is just 2 months old. I don't think I will EVER stop making babies because the minute I stop nursing my child or my milk decreases due to him eating solids, I get pregnant. How can I ever go on the GAPS diet then? I have thyroid autoimmune disease, I have a damaged liver, allergies to all dairy and other stuff I have no idea of (based on my strange reactions to random things). I grew up on raw dairy and now ..): I really do want to heal my body but it is just not working. I am totally grain free. I do not eat processed food, I make everything myself. I eat fermented things, soups, you name it. Here is my question for you, would you suggest me going on a full gaps diet while nursing my little guy? If not, would you suggest I start taking probiotics in addition to all I am doing so far? I just don't know if all I am doing is pointless. I drink cod liver oil but don't eat any butter. I stay away from grain but I don't know if I am healing myself because I didnt start with step 1.
Odd question: Where did you get the most accurate list of what is acceptable on Gaps? I read some contradicting things and just not sure. Thanks

Sarah Smith said...

Hello Julz,
My family actually had very mixed results from the GAPS Diet. Some things got better temporarily, but some things got worse and we even developed some new problems while on GAPS. Considering how much work it was to be on GAPS, I was very frustrated by the end of it to find that it didn't cure us of the things we were expecting. So I don't actually recommend the GAPS Diet to others, based on our experiences. You can read more about that here: http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2013/05/was-gaps-diet-worth-it_5.html

That being said, there are some links in this old post about sites that provide the information about what is GAPS-legal. http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2011/06/online-gaps-resources.html

I've written some about my conclusion that diet alone does not "cure" us of our health issues; whereas diet can lead to temporary improvements, over time diet seems like a dead-end for achieving long-term cumulative health improvements for chronic issues. http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2015/03/can-perfect-diet-lead-to-perfect-health.html