Chocolate Pecan Zucchini Muffins

More baking!  I'm a baking maniac.  I can't stop.  Help!

I found an awesome website with a bajillion healthy recipes: The Happy Herbivore.  It's a great place to find vegan recipes - no I am not vegan - but vegan food happens to be pretty freakin' healthy.  No butter.  No cheese.  No eggs.  No animal stuff at all.  Save the koala bear!

Huh?

As I was saying, these chocolatey, pecan-y, zucchini filled muffins are delish.  I found the recipe at the Happy Herbivore, took the liberty of adding pecans and using Splenda rather than sugar, and wa-lah!  Sugar free, almost fat-free, and 100% scrumptious.

 I suppose if you wanted to increase the healthy factor, you could leave out the pecans.  And use skim milk rather than soy milk to make them fat free...yes?

Alrighty, to start out, make your hubby get off the couch and shred a couple zucchini...you'll need a cupful of the shredded stuff.  Ignore him when he starts whining that he doesn't know how to shred a zucchini.  If you ignore him long enough, he'll figure it out all by himself.

 Told you he'd figure it out.

 Note to self:  next time hubby takes a picture for the blog, remind him to avoid including dirty dishes in the picture.

Measure out your flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon.  I've been using whole wheat flour in all my baking.  Makes me feel better about myself.

 Make fun of me if you must, but up until about two weeks ago, if a recipe called for baking soda or baking powder, I would always use baking soda.  Because that's what I had in my cupboard, and honestly, how big of a difference can it make?

I'm an awesome baker.  And instruction-follower.  This could be why I've never been a great baker.  But don't worry, I am now the proud owner of baking powder.

 On a side note, how awesome is this bowl?  Grandma gave me this when I was living with them during a pharmacy rotation.  It belonged to great-great-great grandma (I think...two or three "greats"...?).  And now it lives in my kitchen and makes my pictures of dry ingredients beautiful.

I want to go to an antique shop and get more bowls to bake with.  These make me much happier than crappy old Walmart glass bowls.  Boo.

 This is a banana.

 This is a banana after an unfortunate run-in with a fork.  And me.

 Cream the banana, applesauce, and sugar (use Splenda! You'll sleep better at night...promise).  Add in your milk (or soymilk...or almond milk), vanilla, zucchini, and chopped pecans.  You could skip the pecans and continue on from there, or you could use something else.  Almonds.  Walnuts.  Blueberries.  Jalepenos.  Brussel sprouts.  Whatever, I won't judge.

Stir that stuff up nicely until it's all combined evenly.  Remember all those dry ingredients in Grandma's beautiful bowl?  Start adding that stuff into the zucchini mix...in three or four separate parts.  Stir that up just until it's combined.

 Use your handy dandy ice cream scoop to fill twelve muffin cups with the batter.  I sprinkled chopped pecans on top to add a little sumpin' sumpin.   Pop them in the oven (preheated at 350 degrees) for 18-25 minutes.  

 While you're waiting for the muffins to bake, take pictures of your husband doing what he does every afternoon he's not working.

 Shhhhhh...quiet!  He's sleeping!!  And the dude on TV is putting!!  Shhhhhhhhhh.

Use the toothpick test to decide if your muffins are properly muffined.

 Don't they smell delicious?

 I ate one immediately.  It was glorious.

I debated whether I should eat the rest as soon as possible, and tell Will they didn't turn out when he woke up.  Instead, I interrupted his nap with a tasty muffin.  Then we ate another one.  Whoops.

At least they're healthy, right?

 You can see the zucchini in the muffins, but you can't really taste it.  The cinnamon and the banana and the pecan - yum.  These will be perfect this fall when the weather gets chilly.

Soooooo, here's your shopping list for the grocery store tomorrow:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 whole banana, mashed
1/2 cup sugar (or Splenda)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans

Visit The Happy Herbivore for this original recipe, and more healthy treats!