Not trying to be sneaky

Yes, those are green bits in those muffins.  No, they are not green sprinkles, or candied lime peels.  Yes, they are veggies.  Zucchini, actually.  There, I've said it.  These muffins have zucchini in them, and I'm not trying to hide it. 

I happen to really like zucchini, but sometimes I go a little overboard when purchasing it, and I end up with more that we can eat in Chez Flourpile.  Rather than letting it rot in my fridge, I decided to use up some of it in these muffins.  They do use some whole wheat flour, and veggies, and no butter, so I guess you could consider them healthy.  And, they are super tasty!!  To me, they tasted a lot like carrot cake, which leads me to believe that they would be really good with cream cheese frosting.  I did discover that if you spread a little cream cheese on the top of them, they make a great pre-run snack. 

When I made these, I totally thought I had a home run.  The Hubster enjoyed them, and I really like them.  But, I took them to work, and they were not as universally enjoyed.  Most of the time, I don't have any leftovers when I take stuff to work, but that was not the case this time.  There were people that wouldn't come near them, solely because they contained veggies.  Whatever.  Haters gonna hate.  Their loss.

The original recipe (which can be found here) calls for wheat germ.  I don't have that in the house, and I didn't feel like going out to buy it just for this, so I omitted it.  I'm sure it makes them healthier, but that wasn't really my goal, so I don't see it as a loss. 

Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins
Makes 24 muffins
Source: In Erika's Kitchen

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup grapeseed or canola oil
2 3/4 cups grated zucchini (do not peel)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon (fp note: pumpkin pie spice would be nice here too!)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 24-cup muffin tin with paper liners and spray it lightly with cooking spray, just in case the muffins rise over the edges of the cups.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the oil and whisk until incorporated. Add the zucchini and vanilla and mix to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just to combine. Stir in the wheat germ.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the 24 muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick or tester comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a rack.