Apple and Zucchini Muffins

I said this in my last post, but my kids are becoming increasingly picky.  Luckily, they like fruit and eat bananas like they're going out of style, but other than that, I'm having a hard time getting them to eat more than just bread!  I ask my 3-year old what she wants for breakfast (or lunch or dinner for that matter) and her answer is always an enthusiastic, "Toast!".  Sometimes with jelly (at least she's getting some fruit?) and sometimes with peanut butter (a little protein?), but that girl loves her toast.

I make banana muffins or bread regularly because I always have a stash of bananas in my freezer.  I thought I would try something a little different and help my kids get some veggies at the same time.  I'm not saying that these are healthy, still sugar and oil and all that, but it makes me feel a little good about myself when I see my two little ones gobble these up.

Love these little muffin/cupcake liners I got for Christmas!

This makes a lot of batter.  In fact the original recipe calls for 3 loaf pans.  I only have 2 12-cup muffin pans so I did 24 muffins and then put the rest into a loaf pan (it didn't fill it up all the way, so it was kind of a short loaf).  

Makes 30 muffins or 3 loaves

Apple Zucchini Muffins

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 

2 cups sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

1 cup peeled finely diced apples (or you can shred them)

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill two 12-cup and one 6-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners (or grease three 8x4 loaf pans).  Add eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat.  Add oil, sugars and vanilla.  Mix the dry ingredients together and add; mix well.  Add zucchini, apples and pecans and mix again.  Using an ice cream scoop, spoon batter 2/3 of the way full into the lined muffin tins.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

(Source:  Adapted from Taste of Home)