Thursday, August 19, 2010

Zucchini, Carrot, and Cranberry Muffins

zucchini carrot muffins-6
I purchased The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook eons ago, and it has sadly been collecting dust on my bookshelf until now. John Barricelli is one heckuva pastry chef, and I totally admire his accomplishments. With Martha Stewart complementing and backing his talents, you know that he is a pastry rock star.

Yes, I fantasize about opening a bakery like his...

There are so many delicious sounding recipes and drool-worthy photos in the book. Which recipe should I try first? It only took a few page flips to decide.

I love zucchini bread. I love carrot cake. This recipe for Zucchini, Carrot, and Cranberry Muffins combines the best of both worlds.
zucchini carrot muffins-1
The recipe calls for a equal portion of shredded zucchini and carrots.zucchini carrot muffins-2
A generous help of cranberries (frozen Trader Joe's cranberries here) are folded in batter. I used Trader Joe's frozen cranberries in this instance, but I think any tart berry or fruit would be a perfect substitution. I might try this with frozen raspberries next time.
zucchini carrot muffins-3
The muffins smelled heavenly as they baked in the oven. After a quick rest on the cooling rack, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into one of these babies.
zucchini carrot muffins-5
Yum! The orange and green flecks from the shredded veggies are so pretty, and they gave the muffin a nice, moist texture. The cranberries were really yummy, and I enjoyed the tartness from the fruit.
zucchini carrot muffins-8
Wow, I regret that I waited so long to bake from this book.

Better late than never. I can't wait to try more recipes going forward...
zucchini carrot muffins-7

Zucchini, Carrot, and Cranberry Muffins
barely adapted from The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook by John Barricelli
makes 12 muffins

2 C AP flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
1 C sugar
1 C canola oil
2 large eggs, room temp
3/4 C finely grated carrots (approx 1 medium)
3/4 C finely grated zucchini (approx 1 medium)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 C whole fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Grease a standard 12 cup muffin pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Mix in the grated zucchini and carrots.

Fold in the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until combined. Fold in the cranberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Rotate the pan mid way through the baking time.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Turn out muffins on their side in the muffin cups, and let cool in the pan. Serve warm or at room temp.

17 comments:

The Food Librarian said...

i have this recipe marked in my book. MUST make soon! - mary

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

The muffins look absolutely amazing. What a great flavor combinations. I'm making note of this one, thanks for sharing!

Eliana said...

These look so lovely. You just reminded me that I have to do more baking from this book that I too have barely used. It's a true gem.

Monica H said...

What beautiful muffins. I was planning on making zucchini and carrot bread this weekend, but I may have to add some cranberries and make it into muffins instead. yum!

Carolyn said...

Oh, I love the combo of zuch, carrots and cranberries. Never thought to put it together myself, I will have to try it!

Unknown said...

So glad to have found your blog! looks great

Amy (Sing For Your Supper) said...

Mmm, what a great combination! I can't wait to try these!

Cristine said...

These look and sound wonderful!

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

These muffins look beautiful! Good to know about the book. I had'nt heard of it before.

I just made a carrot bran muffin that I have been planning to make again with zucchini. Maybe I'll add both! I had planned to add the dried TJ cranberries and realized what I had were tart dried cherries. Wow, are those good in muffins.

Mary @Delightful Bitefuls said...

Bookmarked!!!

Thanks for this! I love all these ingredients!

Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Alright! A zucchini recipe that does not include chocolate.
~ingrid

Robin said...

I made these over the weekend. I made some changes to make them even more healthy and they still turned out great:
- substituted 1 cup of AP Flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour
- substituted 3/4 cup of canola oil with 3/4 cup no sugar added applesauce
- substituted cranberries with raspberries because my supermarket didn't have them.

This will definitely be in the breakfast rotation. Thanks!

hoffee and a nuffin said...

I baked these muffins this morning and we LOVE them!!! Thank you for posting such a delicious recipe :)

Teresa said...

These were phenomenal! I ended up mixing the cranberries into the batter with the zucchini and carrot, then topping each muffin with sliced almonds :D Best breakfast muffins ever

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

These look beautiful. I don't know this book, I will definately check it out.

VeganFling said...

I made a vegan version by using 1/4 C applesauce in place of the eggs. These muffins were delicious!

Sol Gonzalez said...

I just make them and mixed a little bit of pomegranate. They were delicious, not too sweet so great for breakfast and night time movie. :)

Blog Widget by LinkWithin