Breakfast Times

Right now we are in the midst of a stretching season as a family. Nate was laid off soon after Judah was born and so this summer while applying for full-time work he has been working production gigs as he can. This means we don't know what our weeks look like until the last minute and we have to adjust accordingly.

Most days he works Nate leaves at 6 or 7 am and with the type of sleep we get with a baby, who wants to/can have the energy to get up even earlier than necessary to cook or prepare a full breakfast? I've been trying to keep our house stocked in healthy baked goods that he can take with him on the road. So far I've made many, many loaves of wheat bread for hearty toast, granola bars with nuts and cranberries (similar to these awesome bars our brother-in-law makes) and then with zucchini coming into season I've made two batches of zucchini bran muffins. The first go-round I made this recipe from Gourmet magazine, which were quite good, but then I made some adjustments to make the muffins a little more summer-like.

We are basically a dairy-free household nowadays since Judah shows his disapproval very strongly when I ingest anything from a cow. Hence I had some coconut milk on hand and decided that zucchini-coconut muffins would be quite tasty. And they are. Summery and flavorful and healthy enough for a filling breakfast.

Zucchini-Coconut Muffins (adapted from Gourmet Magazine and Epicurious.com)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2/3 cup each of all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, wheat bran (totaling 2 cups)

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup butter softened (or vegan butter/margarine if going entirely dairy-free)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium)

Mix together flours, salt, baking powder and spices in medium bowl. Cream with electric mixer the butter and sugar until combined and fluffy. Add eggs to sugar and butter and beat well. Add vanilla to egg/butter mixture and beat in well. Hand mix flour mixture with butter mixture. Add coconut milk, raisins, coconut and zucchini. Mix until barely incorporated. Divide the batter into muffin cups (either buttered or with liners.) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes 12-16 muffins.