I decided to attempt a cross between zucchini bread and a bran muffin – don’t ask me why! It just crept into my mind, and I couldn’t give the thought up without at least trying it. The main premiss behind my logic being zucchinis are so wet and bran can be so throat chokingly dry, so in theory they should balance themselves out? right? Turns out that this hypothetical scenario actually checks out. As much as I love bran muffins, I’ve always been reluctant to bake them due to the shear amount of fat and sugar you need to pump into them to combat the general dryness and healthful goodness of the bran. The solution, it seems, is to plump them up with watery vegetables…. or at least, in this case that’s worked.

I also couldn’t resist adding a strong hit of ginger at the end. There’s something about baking with molasses that just triggers my need for ginger, and zucchini is such a neutral canvas, I feel like it always needs a little something to give it that final boost.

Recipe makes ~12 muffins.

Ingredients:

• 1 grated Zucchini
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil
• 2 tbsp Milk
• 1/4 cup Molasses
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Oat Bran
• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp ground Ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (~177 C).
2. Combine the zucchini, eggs, oil, milk, molasses, sugar, and salt.
3. Stir in the bran.
4. Sift together the dry ingredients.
5. Gently, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
6. Scoop your muffin batter into greased or paper-lined muffin tins.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if done. The toothpick should come away clean.