There are so many of these tempting zucchini mini muffin bite recipes out there, Facebook, Pinterest, Blogland… Have you seen them? And all their variations?? If not, I’m not sure where you have been hanging out, but start noticing, you’ll see them, I am sure of it!
I suspect everyone is working with what they have and with what sounds good because they are all just a little different. I thought I’d throw caution to the wind tonight and try my hand at what sounded good, right now!
We’ve been away from the garden for about nine days and were tickled to come back and pick our first three zucchini!! I couldn’t just let them lay on the counter and since they didn’t really fit into our Taco Bowls dinner plan I thought I’d make these as a little snack.
Well… what I was really thinking was I needed a little something on hand that I could eat, just a bite or two of, before taking vitamins or meds. You know sometimes when you just need a little bite of something to make things settle a little smoother? Well, I’ve been choosing quick though not always so smartly, here lately, so when a cousin shared this recipe today I knew this sounded perfect. Low-cal, packed with nutrition and with fiber and I get to use the freshest of ingredients? How could this be bad?
Before you know it we, and all our neighbors, will have more zucchini than we will know what to do with, better start testing new recipes early on, I say.
Well, I’m telling right now, you can go ahead and start with a double batch if there are 2 or more eating them. And if you hope to have some left as little bites of nutrition after taste testing them when they come right out of the oven, I’m telling you, you better double it. These were a big hit! I was able to weasel one away to tuck into the freezer to see how well they freeze, then thaw. And there is one left for a morning snack, if no one snags it before then.
Zucchini Mini Muffin Bites
printer friendly version
2 c. zucchini, grated, sprinkled with salt, in a colander, to drain
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used gluten-free chia bread to make fresh crumbs with extra fiber bonus)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
a sprinkling of red pepper
a turn of fresh black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 c chopped cilantro
Preheat oven to 400°. Spray or oil a 12 place mini muffin pan.
Shred your zucchini into a colander, sprinkle with salt, let drain for about ten minutes, then squeeze all the water out by wringing in a clean dish towel. The less water left, the less squidgy your muffins will be. If sodium is an issue, you could probably rinse before squeezing. I use a good sea salt so I get the added mineral benefits. I did not rinse them and even with the parmesan cheese they were not salty tasting and I think that I am sensitive to too much sodium.
While the zucchini is draining, mix the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl and let the flavors marry up. Toss in the squeezed dry zucchini (for reference mine measured to 1 cup after squeezing out the moisture) and fill the muffin cups to the top, press tightly to compress. Mine only made 10.
Bake until golden, about 18 minutes. I broiled mine, a bit, for more color. Cool for a few seconds, then run a knife along the edges to release. Eat hot or room temperature!
Though they were really, really good, next time I might add a minced or pressed garlic clove into the wet mixture, up the onion to a half cup, definitely add any extra zucchini or onion left laying on the cutting board. At least enough to get you up to 12 mini muffins. I think finely minced jalapeño would be good, too. I will probably next add another sprinkling of red pepper or pepper flakes and maybe try a different herb. Don’t get me wrong the cilantro was fabulous, we LOVE cilantro, but basil sounds like it could be good, too, especially with the addition of garlic. And the basil is getting out of control again, anyway.
I find that sometimes with zucchini that has been cooked, frozen, and reheated it can tend to be squidgy. Somewhere I read said it was important to reheat from a frozen state to prevent it from being wet and soggy. That is why I am testing them. Who wants squidgy muffins????
This was also the reason I opted to salt, and squeeze dry the zucchini. Same for add some bread. If you are looking to eat grain free, you can eliminate the bread like some of the recipes do. I think it that case it might be more quiche-like and not quite as much muffin-like as these are. Other options might be to use an almond or coconut flour in place of bread crumbs and still keep it gluten free. So many options to try!! At only 27 calories and 1 gram of fiber each, these are definitely a springboard to many other variations!
Let me know if you try them and what you thought!
Enjoy!
