Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins

The weather in NYC has been frustratingly unpredictable as we've transitioned into spring. One day it's snowing, the next day it's sunny and I get excited for actual warmth and no longer having to wear my puffy coat, and then the weather smacks me in the face with harsh wind and rain. When will it end?

Since I've been feeling a bit under the weather this week and not convinced the few sunny days we've had are going to stick around, I wanted to get some comfort baking in. For the past few months, I've been consciously trying to eat healthier so I wanted to try and stick with it (although that's never easy when it comes to baking). I came across a recipe for zucchini carrot apple muffins, which sounded very intriguing. I've never made muffins with fruit and veggies before so I figured it would be a nice change - who doesn't think healthy when there's zucchini AND carrots AND apples in a muffin?

Of course, when I decided to get started on these last night, I realized I forgot to buy applesauce at the grocery store. With my knack for procrastination, I finally got around to walking the block and a half there 1.5 hours later. Now, the muffin making can begin!

I was really excited to use the grating attachment on my food processor. For the few years I've had it, I have yet to use it to its full ability, always sticking to the main chopping blade. But alas, a recipe that calls for multiple items to be grated? No need to put in that hard labor when I have a perfectly good machine to do it for me! 

After the grating, squeezing out the excess water, mixing together the wet ingredients and adding in the dry, it was time to pop these babies in the oven. And the final product? These perfect little muffins of joy!

I haven't used whole wheat flour for baking very often, just because I have the idea in my head that the final product will be too dry. With these muffins, I was pleasantly surprised, although I felt like they could be have used slightly more moisture, maybe if I didn't ring out quite so much water from the fruit and veggies or if I had added an extra egg or a little milk. Luckily, I know for next time what I can adjust to make them as moist as possible. Nonetheless, they were still really flavorful with a great cinnamon and ginger flavor coming through with the earthiness of the veggies and whole wheat flour.

I brought the leftovers to work today and gave everyone the preemptive warning that they are a bit dry. Most of my coworkers were happy with the results (or so they said) so that made me feel better. Maybe my next stop will be zucchini bread - I keep seeing recipes for it and have never gone for it. But hey, why not? If I can pack in two veggies and fruit into an individual sized baked good, why not just one veggie in a loaf of bread?

Please enjoy the recipe here and let me know what you think!