Gluten Free Cherry Zucchini Muffins

Wondering what to do with all that zucchini that's coming out of your garden, or all that your neighbor is "blessing" you with? I have a perfect solution for you.

I was posting on Instagram that I had a plethora of zucchini and was wondering what dishes I should be making with it. I was thinking that people were going to give me a whole lot of vegetable recipes,  totally appropriate for zucchini,  and then out of left field my niece Moriah said "why don't you make blueberry zucchini muffins?"

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS - ALWAYS THE BEST RESULTS

That was a fabulous idea, and outside the standard veggie side dish arena, but I didn't have any blueberries so I substituted cherries. I also used gluten-free flour. The result was a spectacularly moist, cherry laden muffin that happened to be gluten free and entirely delicious.

While I put this all together in a stand mixer, you can actually do it in a big bowl with a whisk and spatula. This is truly a one bowl mix up, divide into muffin cups, bake and serve. They are so simple.

READY TO BAKE

I use a box grater to make quick work of grating zucchini and then let the shredded squash drain for a bit so that it is not overly wet.  Having most of the liquid left in the zucchini is absolutely fine because it lends so much moistness to these muffins, but you don't have to press out extra liquid from the zucchini like you do in some recipes.

I simply whisk together the eggs and oil, add to the gluten-free flour along with coconut sugar, rich vanilla paste (my favorite vanilla) and then stir in the zucchini and cherries.

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE OVEN WITH MELTING BUTTER

Scooping into the muffin tin - Using an ice cream scoop ensures you get equal sized muffins so there are no squabbles as to whose muffin is larger.  They also all bake more evenly as well.  I also always use paper liners so ensure I don't have muffins that won't come out of the tin.

So if you're overrun with an army of zucchini, now you know what to do with them. When life gives you zucchini, make gluten-free zucchini cherry muffins.

Gluten Free Zucchini Cherry Muffins
12 muffins


2 cups gluten free flour (1:1 measure) - I like King Arthur Gluten Free
1/2 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar or cane sugar)
1/2 cup neutral oil (I use grapeseed oil)
2 eggs 
2 teaspoons vanilla paste 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (I likecourse sea salt)
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup pitted dark sweet cherries from frozen (thawed & drained)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees


Crack eggs into a container with the oil and give a good whisk.  
In a large bowl add the flour, whisk in the egg and oil mixture, then also whisk in the coconut sugar, vanilla paste, baking soda and salt.