In the heat of summer, the plants are in full production and the harvest is bountiful.
There is no greater thing. Well, except for one thing.
That zucchini plant. We have a love hate relationship.
I mean I love zucchini in all of its mysterious wonder. My favorite thing about zucchini is that it can morph into the most amazingly moist, soft spiced paleo zucchini muffins that have an added bonus of a streusel topping or turn into the perfect comfort food, that savory zoodle rosa.
But…
It seems like zucchini turns into this super power plant that tries to take over the world, maybe this is called a weed? I’m not really certain, but I do know that the zucchini are e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e this time of the year and it makes it extremely difficult on someone who has a slight obsession with not throwing food away.
I almost can’t take it anymore. It is too much and I can’t keep up. It gives me this anxious pit in my stomach when I see the thirteen zucchini lying on my counter in wonder of what the heck I’m going to make next. #foodieproblems
But I keep pushing away, spiralizing, grating, chopping and now freezing. Yes! The key to freeze this stuff because I’m certain this winter I will be craving the bountiful harvest of late summer and realize that I have it all stuffed away inside the freezer to be used on a cold winter day.
Now that my fairytale of zucchini is over and the horrific, no plot storyline has ceased let’s get to the real story.
These beautifully spiced paleo zucchini muffins are the story.
These babies are the perfect mix of moist and fluffy. They also pack a great flavor with some of my favorite spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. They are like little pillows of heaven with that buttery, walnut streusel on top. Need I say anything else? Oh yes, they are loaded with the wonderful, easy to mask, zucchini.
Think vegetable, think fiber, think magnesium, think health all baked perfecting in side those spiced muffins. This sums up zucchini’s perfect love story, spiced zucchini muffins with streusel topping.
Now to make these in gumbo form.
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup tapioca flour
- ¼ cup flaxseed meal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar (honey)
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- Streusel:
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ¼ cup butter or coconut oil
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp coconut flour
- In a large bowl mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, chia seeds and spices.
- In a separate bowl, cream together coconut oil (not melted) and coconut sugar with a hand mixer.
- Add in eggs one at a time and continue mixing.
- Add i, vanilla extract and coconut milk, mix until fully incorporated. Fold in shredded zucchini.
- Pour wet ingredients in with dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon until fully mixed.
- Line a muffin tin or grease with butter.
- Fill each muffin tin ¾ the way full.
- In another small bowl mix together the streusel ingredients and sprinkle on each muffin.
- Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire rack when removing it from the oven and allow it to cool.
