Carrot and Zucchini Spice Muffins

It rained. Then it rained. And, oh did I mention, it rained again. With so much wet weather on the Labor Day weekend, we had nothing else to do but bake. Plus we had a picnic to go to. I’d just been to the Farmer’s Market and picked up zucchini, carrots, corn and green beans, so I figured I could find something to make with my loot. I remembered reading about some cupcakes that had a healthy dose of both carrot and zucchini, so I hunted down the recipe from Whole Foods. I ended up moving around some of the ingredients and increasing the applesauce when I ran out of oil. They also called for walnuts in the mix as well as a garnish on top, but I nixed those.

We endured a few mishaps during this production, but the real conundrum was whether these were cupcakes or muffins. The recipe called these babies cupcakes, but they seemed more like muffins to me. Especially after I trashed the frosting. It wound up being a glaze which I happily preferred. Muffin or cupcake, they were good. I ate them three mornings straight with my coffee, and I packed them as snacks for Scarlett.

This baking episode ended up being a family affair. My father-in-law helped grate the carrot and zucchini. Scarlett did give him a hand, but requested “no photos!” I’m pretty sure she’s planning on hiring an assistant. I also think she’ll eventually inform me that I’m not to look at her directly when I address her. This blog is going to her head.

This recipe originally called for more white flour then whole wheat pastry, but I flip flopped the two.

Scarlett lost interest in this recipe fast. It didn’t bother me. I plugged along with my father-in-law as she fiddled around the house. I don’t like to push her to join me. She usually finds her way back to the project on her own any way. It did help that her Dad said they could combine the wet and dry ingredients together as a team.

Sometimes spills happen. Actually, they happen a lot. We just toss the stuff back in the bowl.

When the cupcakes came out of the oven and cooled, I was ready to frost them. Since I’d gotten heavy-handed when squeezing the fresh lemon juice into the cream cheese mix, the frosting was more a glaze. I actually liked it better. It felt less of a sweet (is it a muffin now?) without the thick frosting. However, these cupcakes could easily be served with nothing at all (sounds like a muffin for sure now).

In the end, we still weren’t sure what to call these. When we brought them to the picnic we called them cupcakes, but, at 7:00 am on a Tuesday, muffin sounded way better, especially to my thighs.