Zucchini Muffins

Our weekly delivery of fresh produce from Wintergreen Farm in Noti, Oregon has been nothing short of amazing these past few weeks.  With each delivery my fridge is getting more and more jam-packed full of lettuce, sweet carrots, beets, summer squash, berries, green beans, broccoli...I could go on and on.  The fresh basil and tomatoes have by far been my most favorite treat of the summer--I have NO problem getting through those between deliveries.  Some of the other veggies however have been a little more challenging to use up before they go bad or get burried under the next delivery.  This week I've been hard pressed to work my way through an abundance of zucchini.  Fisher and I have had zucchini cakes for breakfast (grated zucchini mixed with egg), we've been eating zucchini sauteed, breaded and pan fried and in any other form I can think of to cook it...including zucchini muffins.

I did a little research online looking for a recipe for zucchini muffins but didn't find anything I was too excited about so, I decided to invent!  Creating a recipe is always fun but a little nerve-racking...thankfully these turned out pretty delicious.  Another zucchini down....

Zucchini Bran Muffins

1 c All-Bran cereal

1/2 c milk

1/4 c vegetable oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 c dark brown sugar

1/4 c orange marmalade (I used a orange/lemon jam made by my aunt-in-law)

1 tsp vanilla

1 zucchini, grated and squeezed dry of excess moisture

1 1/2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pumpkin seeds for tops of muffins(optional)

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine bran, milk and oil in the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl.  Add in the eggs, sugar, marmalade, vanilla and drained zucchini.  [NOTE: After grating the zucchini drain off excess liquid by placing the zucchini in the center of a clean kitchen towel.  Gather the towel tightly around the zucchini, twisting and squeezing the excess liquid out.]  Stir to combine.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder & soda, salt and cinnamon.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine.  Divide the batter evenly into muffin cups (will make about 12 small or 6 large muffins).  Sprinkle the top of each muffin with raw pumpkin seeds.  Bake in preheated oven for about 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out dry.  Let cool and enjoy!