The first thing we did with our zucchini shreds was make cupcakes. Yes, I was skeptical too. Could a zucchini cupcake really be any different from a muffin? Wouldn't the thick and gooey texture of cooked zucchini completely negate the light and fluffy texture typical of the cupcake?
The answer is kind of. These ended up not quite as heavy and moist as zucchini cakes and muffins, but still more dense and moist than most cupcakes. The texture is very appealing, especially after being refrigerated over night. My only complaint is that the cupcake part isn't as flavorful as would be ideal... however this is pretty much compensated for by the best frosting in the world, i.e. creamcheese frosting, here highly orange-flavored.
Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes
Stolen from realmomkitchen.blogspot.com; makes 24 cupcakes
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 cups packed grated zucchini (recipe does say whether to drain it, so we squeezed it a little as we picked it up but didn't bother to get out all of the moisture)
Preheat you oven to 350 and line or grease your muffin pans. Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients (oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest) in another. Add the sugar into the wet, followed by the zucchini. Fold together the wet and dry and pour it into the pans, filling each almost to the top. Bake about 20 minutes, cool, and then frost. keep in the refrigerator.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1/2 - 1 cup sugar to taste (most recipes use powdered, but I think it tastes chemical-y, and granulated works fine)
1 tsp vanilla
zest of one orange
2 tbs orange juice
Beat everything together until creamy and light. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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