Zucchini Applesauce Muffins

With spelt flour, these zucchini applesauce muffins are a full-on treat with bittersweet chocolate in the batter and even sprinkled on top.

I discovered a couple forgotten zucchinis buried deep in the bottom of a refrigerator drawer.

A couple weeks ago they were destined for the grill, but they were a bit wrinkly and becoming borderline unusable.

Past their prime, I figured the best way to put them to use was to bake.

After a great debate over doing a quickbread or something else, I settled on zucchini applesauce muffins.

I always joke that muffins are just rustic little cakes that often have a faux healthy vibe.

Don’t be fooled by the applesauce! It added a subtle apple flavor to the muffins, but it didn’t replace another ingredient as it sometimes does in certain recipes.

Nope, these muffins are a full-on treat with chopped bittersweet chocolate folded into the batter and even sprinkled on top.

Bonus: they do have spelt flour!
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Zucchini Applesauce Muffins

• Author: Paige Adams
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 22-25 minutes
• Total Time: 32-35 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x

With spelt flour, these zucchini applesauce muffins are a full-on treat with bittersweet chocolate in the batter and even sprinkled on top.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 2–3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1–1/14 cups granulated sugar
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together both flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, zucchini and vanilla extract. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients followed by 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate. Transfer the batter the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate.
3. Bake the muffins for 22-25 minutes until the tops spring back when pressed. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing the muffins and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Loosely adapted from Martha Stewart Living September 2014