Recipe: Zucchini Cream Cheese Muffins

I had zucchini. I had cream cheese. I had them both for days and didn't know what to do with them. Then I got a Crazy for Crust email. I've been receiving these emails for years, and I usually just file them away into a "Recipes" folder and never look at them. But I did open the last one, and it just happened to have this recipe for zucchini cream cheese muffins. Serendipity!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup + 6 tablespoons granulated sugar — divided
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 7 tablespoons sour milk — 1 teaspoon vinegar plus enough milk to make 7 tablespoons or you can use buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 4 ounces cream cheese — softened

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups with liners or spray with cooking spray.
2. Stir 3/4 cup sugar, oil, and applesauce in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or spatula. Stir in eggs, milk, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly stir in flour, then stir in zucchini.
3. In a separate bowl, stir cream cheese and 6 tablespoons sugar until smooth.
4. Place about 2 tablespoons of batter in the bottom of each of 12 muffin cups. Top with equal portions of cream cheese (about 1 tablespoon per muffin) then equally divide remaining muffin batter over the top.
5. Bake for about 18-24 minutes until the muffins are golden brown. Cool before eating. Serve warm or cold! Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days for freeze for up to 1 month.

When I bake, I am not a chemist cook. Everyone says that baking (versus cooking) is all about chemistry. But I disagree: like cooking, it's mostly about taste. The amount of zucchini or cinnamon you put into the batter, the number of tablespoons of sugar you put into the cream cheese filling: that's all preference. Yes, you want to make sure the proportions are right and nothing is too wet or dry. But honestly I eyeball things within the measuring cup or spoon and call it a day. And it all ends up okay in the end. These muffins were quite yummy, and that's all that matters!