Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Are your kids are picky eaters and getting them to try new vegetables is an uphill battle. One of the best ways around this is sneaking veggies in whenever you can, and that’s what you can do with this Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins recipe.

This recipe makes 12 standard size muffins. By ingredients it is gluten free, dairy free, peanut free, and soy free. It can be made tree nut free by substituting the coconut oil for vegetable oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup riced or grated zucchini (about 2 zucchini)
• 1/2 cup riced or grated carrots (about 1 1/2 large carrots)
• 1 1/2 ripe bananas
• 1/8 cup apple sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups gluten free multi-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel carrots and chop into small pieces.
3. Add carrot to food processor and pulse until finely riced, like in a cold slaw.
4. Measure out 1/2 cup of the riced carrot and add to a mixing bowl.
5. Peel zucchini, and chop into small pieces.
6. Add zucchini to food processor and pulse until finely riced, like in a slaw.
7. Measure out 1 cup riced zucchini.
8. Place zucchini between two sheets of paper towels, wrap, and squeeze to remove excess water.
9. Add riced zucchini to mixing bowl with carrots.
10. Chop banana into large chunks, add to bowl and mash with a fork.
11. Add your apple sauce to the bowl and mix by hand with a spatula or fork.
12. Add your oil and mix until smooth.
13. Add your sugar to the bowl and mix until dissolved.
14. In a separate bowl, add your gluten free flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until well combined.
15. Next, add your salt and cinnamon to the dry ingredients bowl and mix again.
16. Pour your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl.
17. Mix by hand until well combined. You don’t want to see any dry spots of flour.
18. Add paper liners to your muffin pan.
19. Fill muffin cups 1/2 – 2/3 of the way full with batter.
20. Bake for 20 minutes, until a fork comes out clean and they’re firm on top.

Helpful Tips:

1. Pulse the carrots and zucchini in a food processor until they’re almost minced in size. Longer strips from a grater are ok too, but picky eaters that are texture eaters will prefer the veggies in very small pieces.
2. For uniform cupcakes, use a medium size cookie scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter.
3. Drain the excess water from the zucchini to avoid overly wet muffins. Once you’ve measured out the amount of zucchini you need, wrap it in a paper towel, and squeeze over the sink or a bowl. Discard excess water.
4. These muffins freeze very well. For best results, let them cool completely and then store them in an air tight container for up to one month. Remove from the freezer as needed and let them thaw in the oven at 200 degrees until warm.