Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

The first time I made these was right before my daughter's fifth birthday. She has a summer birthday, so zucchini was abundant. After her third muffin she said, "MOM! Can I have these for my birthday cupcakes?" 

Muffins generally have enough sugar and oil/butter to make them delicious, though not super healthy. Substituting some wheat flour for white flour, decreasing the sugar a bit, and adding zucchini and applesauce keeps them plenty delicious, but tips the scales back a bit towards the healthy side. 
These muffins freeze well. And as mini muffins they make a great lunch box treat.  

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Adapted from In Erika’s Kitchen

3 eggs
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups zucchini, grated
⅓ cup applesauce 
2 cups white wheat flour
1 cup white flour (all purpose, unbleached)
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, cocoa powder and vanilla.

Mix in the zucchini and applesauce.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Gently mix with a rubber spatula, being careful not to mix.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups about ¾ full.

Bake about 18 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven until the muffins spring back when touched or a toothpick comes out clean (about 10 minutes for mini muffins).

Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack.  

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Chocolate (Whole Wheat) Pancakes

Right smack at the end of a lovely two week winter vacation, the winter of all winters hit Indianapolis.  Sunday was really a lovely day, watching 12 inches of snow fall.  We headed out to shovel the driveway right before dark and our kind neighbor stopped over with his snowblower to help us out.  Monday and Tuesday we got the polar vortex in all its glory: below zero temperatures with wind chill down to 30 below.  Schools were closed all week.  I did venture out to work and the grocery store on Thursday, but the roads were still terrible. 

The kids and I had plenty of indoor time, and I decided to resurrect this blog project.  This seemed like a cheerful post to lead off, as it is still quite gloomy out.  I first made these chocolate pancakes for Valentine's Day several years ago, and it remains a favorite breakfast treat of the girls.  I prefer the addition of chocolate chips to the pancake batter.  Go big or go home, right? 

We've tried a variety of toppings.  Whipped cream and strawberries/raspberries/blueberries...maybe a drizzle of chocolate sauce or caramel.  My new favorite topping is coconut cream.  I'll have to post that soon as it is so easy and delicious. 

The recipe calls for a small amount of coffee, which enriches the chocolate flavor.  But water can easily be substituted. 
 
Whole Wheat Chocolate Pancakes
From Alida's Kitchen

1 cup white wheat flour (or wheat pastry flour or white flour)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 TB raw sugar (or granulated sugar)

½ tsp salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup plus 2 TB buttermilk

2 TB brewed coffee (or water)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 TB unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cooking spray

Fruit and whipped cream/coconut cream for topping

In a large bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, coffee, vanilla and butter.

Add buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and gently fold until blended (there may be some lumps).  

Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Let mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.

Preheat non-stick skillet over medium and then spray with cooking spray.  Pour batter in skillet by the 1/4 cup-ful and cook until bubbles appear (about 3 minutes).  

Flip and cook on the other side until done (about 2-3 minutes).  

Repeat with remaining batter.  

Serve with desired toppings and enjoy!

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100% Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers

I've ventured into the world of making my own crackers before with Alton Brown's seeded crackers. They are my kind of cracker, with a big crunch and big sesame flavor.

This time I wanted to try a cracker that would be more kid friendly. And there is nothing Kitty likes better than when we visit friends who will feed her Ritz crackers. I was pleased to find a Ritz cracker recipe from Cupcake Project that looked quick and relatively easy.

For my crackers, I swapped out all the all-purpose flour for white wheat flour. The crackers still had a great flavor and texture, even with the use of 100% whole wheat. But then I'm used to whole wheat and like the wheaty-flavor. If you're not used to that yet, you may want to start with 50% whole wheat and work up to it.

I also used aluminum-free baking powder. Alton Brown says you are likely to get a metallic taste to your crackers if you use regular baking powder (and who wants that?). Aluminum free baking powder is easy to find in any grocery store in the baking aisle (it's not much more expensive) or I've listed a substitution below the instructions.

Since I still had my tiny heart cookie cutter out from Valentines, I used that to cut out the crackers. So they were mini-Ritz, and darn cute. And I found this dough much easier to roll and cut than the seeded crackers.

I was worried that brushing them with the salty butter at the end would make them too greasy, but that was not the case. If anything I think it could have used a bit more salt.

The kid verdict was positive: both girls gobbled up the crackers as if they were store-bought. I was also pleased with the results. A tasty, 100% whole wheat cracker without the preservatives of store-bought, using basic ingredients, and quick and easy to make.

100% Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers
Adapted from Cupcake Project

2 cups white wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder, aluminum-free*
1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
2 TB vegetable oil
2/3 cup water (or a little less)

Butter topping:
3 TB unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 tsp of salt in a food processor.

Add cold butter and pulse a few times.

Add vegetable oil and pulse.

With the food processor running, slowly pour in the water. Stop adding water as the dough comes together to form a ball.

Split the dough in half and roll out the first half thin, about an 1/8" thick (or use a pasta roller if you have one handy).

Cut out the dough with a cookie cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Poke a few holes in each cracker so the cracker will bake properly. (I used a wooden skewer, a fork would work too).

Roll out remaining dough and continue to cut out crackers and poke with holes.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The crackers should just be golden brown.

While the crackers are baking, mix the melted butter and salt for the topping.

Brush the crackers with the melted butter and salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cool the crackers on the pan and enjoy!

Yield: About 200 mini crackers.

*If you don't have aluminum free baking powder, use this substitution: 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar + 1/4 tsp cornstarch = 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder*

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Applesauce Muffins

The girls love to bake with me. Cookies are obviously the first choice, but muffins come in a close second. We were out of ingredients for our first choices: blueberry and peaches and cream. So the applesauce muffins were a reluctant third choice.

But they were a smash hit. Kitty exclaimed throughout the day, "I WUF applesauce muffins!"

I was planning on swapping out all the white flour for wheat flour, but then thought why not throw some oats in too? I generally prefer the oat flour to keeping the oats in whole, and it's so easy to make. I just throw the oats in my blender and turn it on high and in 30 seconds or less I've got oat flour. I think the half wheat/half oat flour combination was perfect.

Even using unsweetened applesauce, these were plenty sweet, so don't hesitate to decrease the sugar if you are so inclined.

Applesauce Muffins
Adapted from Taste of Home

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups white wheat flour
2 cups regular oats, blended to flour*
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves

*Place oats in a blender and blend on high until oats become flour.

Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Stir in applesauce.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

Stir flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture just until blended.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake muffins in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy!

Yield: About 2 1/2 dozen

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Granola Pancakes

It's been a weekend of great food.

Since I'm up too early this morning with my two year old, I'll start with breakfast.

On Friday night I was discussing ideas for Saturday breakfast with J. He mentioned granola pancakes that he recently had at a restaurant. Hmmm, as much as I love granola, I wasn't sure about granola pancakes. But it was a unique idea, so I decided to give it a try.

Holy Pancakes, Batman. They turned out fantastic! But they needed something besides plain old maple syrup.

How about Yogurt Maple Syrup?
I added a little pure maple syrup to plain yogurt and drizzled it over the pancakes. Topped with a few extra blueberries, and it was a Saturday morning breakfast dream!

I made these 100% whole wheat, but feel free to adjust the white flour/wheat flour ratio to your preference.
Granola Pancakes with Yogurt Maple Syrup

Adapted from Pancake Lovers

1 1/3 cup prepared granola
1 1/2 cups white wheat flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 TB honey
2 cups plain yogurt
2 eggs
1/4 cup cooking oil (vegetable or canola)

Fresh blueberries

Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, stir together the wet ingredients. Combine the wet and dry and stir just until combined.

Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a preheated griddle. Top each pancake with a handful of blueberries. Cook until bubbles start to pop on the pancake surface. Flip and cook about one more minute.

Keep pancakes in a warm oven (about 200 degrees) until you're ready to serve them. Top pancakes with yogurt syrup and more fresh blueberries.

Yield: About 12 pancakes

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