These moist and flavorful Blueberry Zucchini Cream Cheese Muffins are a perfectly tasty way to use up that garden zucchini...
This is it folks. These Blueberry Zucchini Cream Cheese Muffins are my very last ode to summer 2014. Fall will officially be here in just 4 short days. And while I know everyone has pumpkin and apples on the brain already (don't worry... plenty of fall yummy recipes are on their way here very soon, folks!), I also know that everyone is still picking those end-of-season zucchinis from their gardens and snatching them up at super cheap prices at their local farmers markets and grocery stores.
Not only are these moist, tasty muffins the perfect way to use to up that fresh zucchini, they also happen to be a lightened up version of one of the all-time most popular recipes on this blog, my Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins. Plus, this is another one of my infamous hidden veggie recipes. ;) And you all know how much I just love hiding veggies in my recipes from my husband and son...
Blueberry Zucchini Cream Cheese Muffins
by
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients (12 muffins)
- 2 1/2 cups of flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 cup of coconut milk (could also use almond or regular milk)
- 2 tbsp of coconut oil (could also use canola or vegetable oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups of grated fresh zucchini (about 1 large zucchini)
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 6 oz. of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with muffin liners. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients- flour through the ginger. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients- the milk through the grated zucchini. (I peeled my zucchini before grating it. You can leave the peeling on if you prefer. I just didn't want there to be any tell-tale green in my muffins. ;) )
Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients a little at a time. Mix until incorporated, but try not to over mix.
Fold in the blueberries.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar together in small mixing bowl until nice and creamy. Gently fold half of the cream cheese "batter" into the blueberry muffin batter.
Fill each muffin cup in your pan about 2/3 of the way full with your muffin/cream cheese swirled batter. Grab the remaining cream cheese batter and drop one tablespoon of it on top of each muffin. Using the back of a spoon, press the batter into and swirl it around the top of each muffin.
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a few fresh blueberries, & gently press them into the tops of the muffins with a spoon- if desired.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees, turning your muffin tin once halfway through baking. The cream cheese tops of the muffins will get golden edges when done, but shouldn't be brown. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins should come out clean when done.
Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Seriously, you all. I cannot think of a more perfect batch of muffins to bake up this weekend to celebrate the last official weekend of this summer. :)
And can I dare say that I actually liked this version of my blueberry cream cheese muffins better than my original, wildly popular ones? I just loved the denseness and moistness that the hidden zucchini lent to these muffins. And the best part? The husband didn't have a clue. ;)
What are your plans for the last weekend of summer 2014?
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