I find that I can produce some interesting results in baking when I find that I’m missing ingredients. This was very much the case with these zucchini coconut cashew muffins. I started out thinking I was going to make lemon zucchini muffins, but then realized my only lemon had gone into a cocktail earlier in the weekend. At that point, I thought it might be a good idea to check the rest of my ingredient list, and realized that I was very short the amount of olive oil I’d planned to use. Fortunately, in 80 degree heat, the coconut oil that was lurking in the back of the pantry was very much melted and thus, very easy to use. I had unsweetened flaked coconut and cashews, so these went from being lemon zucchini muffins to being zucchini coconut cashew muffins.
I think the change worked out just fine – these are lovely with a cup of coffee in the morning or with afternoon tea. The whole cashews lend a nice bit of chewiness to the muffins. I can imagine these might also be good with a little cream cheese frosting. With any luck, my yellow zucchini plant will decide to try to produce at least one or two more zucchinis before the season is over (now that I’ve stopped plucking all of its blossoms) and I can make these again.
Zucchini Coconut Cashew Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup coconut oil (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
½ cup whole cashews
2 cups grated zucchini
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners.
Combine the dry ingredients (flour through brown sugar) in a medium sized bowl. Add the eggs, olive oil, coconut oil, and vanilla and mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Stir in the coconut, cashews and zucchini.
Fill each muffin cup about half way full. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
