The passion for pumpkin on the internet seems to be getting bigger every second! You blink and another pumpkin emoji pops up before your eyes with its smiley yellow smirk.
Blog
Zucchini Spice Muffins with Molasses Glaze
I had a couple of pumpkin ideas in mind for this week. But I also had a couple of wrinkly near-rotten zucchini in my fridge. So zucchini won due to time sensitivity, but it’s all still squash anyways right?
That’s not really true. Squashes are a diverse bunch with all their shapes and shades and edible ambitions. You wouldn’t make a zucchini pie for Thanksgiving. You wouldn’t spiralize raw pumpkin into pumpkin zoodles (poodles?). Or would you?
Well I am pretty certain that you wouldn’t carve a face on a zucchini. Or would you?
Well you definitely wouldn’t put a candle inside a zucchini. You wouldn’t, there’s no room.
Tangential squash musings, sorry. Back to muffins…
Oaty. Oat flour is kinda my jam if you haven’t noticed by now. But this recipe has another oat ingredient: oat bran. Oat bran has about twice as much fiber per cup as rolled oats. And even if you’re a bran muffin hater, oat bran really doesn’t taste bran-y like wheat bran does. But it does add texture. And it definitely adds wholesomeness.
Zucchini squeezing. Zucchini has a surprising amount of liquid in it. So to avoid mushy muffins, we must…
Grate them.
Wrap them up.
Give them a towel hug.
Be amazed by how much zuc juice comes out (check it out in the video!)
The glaze. Sweet and tangy or just sweet, it’s up to you. There are 2 ways to make the glaze: with non-dairy milk or with non-dairy yogurt. Personally I prefer the sweet and tangy version with the yogurt, but in case you don’t have non-dairy yogurt around, or don’t want to use it, non-dairy milk works too. Both make for a superb sweet molasses-spiked sauce.
Zucchini Spice Muffins with Molasses Glaze
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 muffins 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- MUFFINS
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup oat bran (or more oat flour)
- 8–10 pitted medjool dates
- 2 tbsps molasses
- 2/3 cup non-dairy milk
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- GLAZE
- 2 tbsps non-dairy milk OR 3 tbsps non-dairy yogurt
- 1 tsp molasses
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (blender-blitzed or store-bought)
Instructions
- FOR THE MUFFINS: Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grate the zucchini by hand or use a food processor. With a towel or nut milk bag, squeeze out the excess liquid. Set aside.
- Blend the non-dairy milk, molasses, and dates on high until smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, oat bran, baking powder, and spices.
- Add the zucchini and wet ingredients to the mixing bowl. Stir together until combined.
- Divide the batter between 6 muffin tins, filling each 2/3 of the way. Use muffin liners or lightly grease with coconut oil.
- Bake for 20-22 mins at 350F until the center bounces back when lightly pressed.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool.
- FOR THE GLAZE: Whisk together all the ingredients. If it is too thin, add more sugar. If it is too thick, add a tiny bit more yogurt/milk. Refrigerate for an even thicker consistency.
- Once the muffins are completely cool, top them with glaze. Serve immediately.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Covered Strawberries
Yes, yes I know I need to stop posting berry recipes and start posting pumpkin recipes soon. But I posted this full-of-fall apple cake recipe in the summer, so doesn’t that buy me at least a few summery recipes in the fall? Or does that just make me seasonally confused?
Soon my passion for pumpkin will hit. For now we strawberry dip. I took the ever-so-elegant chocolate covered strawberry and combined it with the craveable-in-a-candy-cup combo of chocolate and peanut butter. Or watch the video and hear an even better description…
There are a plethora of powdered peanut butter (or ppb) products to choose from these days. The classic PB2. The coconut sugar sweetened Just Great Stuff stuff, which I love. And the Crazy Richards Pure PB, which I love for baking because it is unsweetened, so you can use the sweetener of your choosing. I used the Crazy Richards Pure PB in this recipe, and sweetened with maple syrup. If you use the PB2 or a sweetened once, then just leave out the sweetener and add more non-dairy milk.
And if you are unfortunate enough to have some of the chocolate PB dip leftover, it happens to taste pretty amazing dolloped and frozen into little fudgey bites. But don’t freeze too long or they will be not-so-fudgey rocks. Or swirl it into nicecream. Dollop it on top of oatmeal. Dip into it with a banana. It’s chocolate and peanut butter for goodness sake, just eat it!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 -15 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup powdered peanut butter
- 2 tbsps cacao powder or cocoa powder
- 2 tbsps maple syrup (or any liquid sweetener)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsps non-dairy milk
- 12–15 strawberries
Instructions
- Whisk together everything except the strawberries until it is smooth and clump free. Start with 1/4 cup of the non-dairy milk and add the additional 2 tablespoons as needed to make for a smooth but thick consistency.
- Dip the strawberries in the chocolate peanut butter mixture.
- Lay out on a flat plate or pan.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until the chocolate is no longer sticky to the touch.
- Enjoy! Keep them in the fridge and eat within two days.
Cauliflower Hummus
I know it seems like a lot of my recipes are targeted at people under age 7 With the hidden vegetables and the cuteness and the finger food focus, almost everything is kid friendly. But that’s just how I eat–like a kid. Lots of snacks, lots of sweet, and not a lot of utensils required.
But I’m pretty sure we all eat more veggies when there is dipping involved. I mean who goes through an entire bag of baby carrots without hummus? Bunnies. With hummus? Anyone! Dunking veggies in a dip that contains veggies is ridiculously heathy and fun no matter what age you are.
Many oil-free, low fat hummus recipes are made with just chickpeas, lemon juice, and garlic. But it wouldn’t be a savory FF recipe with cauliflower! Extra creaminess and extra nutrition? Heck yeah! Throw in a little garlic and salt as well, and it’s a hummus home-run.
I know all of you tahini lovers are probably hating me right now for replacing your favorite savory seed butter with a cloud-colored vegetable, but there’s no reason not to have cauliflower AND tahini in your hummus. It’s still a little extra veggie to an otherwise legume-laden dip.
Oh, and this probably goes without saying because it’s been said a million times, but rinse your beans. Rinse them well. And if a few jump down the drain during the rinsing process, then let them go. They obviously don’t care to be hummus-ed and would rather set out on a voyage through the pipe system. Chickpea free will, that’s what I’m all about.
Cauliflower Hummus
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 a head of cauliflower
- 3 tbsps lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- One 15-oz can of chickpeas
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Chop and steam the cauliflower until very tender. Allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Blend the cauliflower, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper on high until very smooth.
- Add the chickpeas. Blend, adding water if needed.
- Enjoy! Keep the leftovers in the fridge.
Vanilla Pretzel Fig Bars
This recipe has the potential to be messy. If you decide to crush your pretzels in their bag and you get a little carried away with the rolling pin pulverizing and your bag has a weak spot you might end up with pretzels everywhere. Just maybe.
Be smart. Watch the video. Use your blender instead.
But don’t worry, there’s still mess potential. If you decide to not use a mixing spoon and use your hands instead (more mixing leverage) and you get gooey date caramel all over them and it mixes with the fresh fig juice you might end up with sticky fingers. It’s a possibility.
Just 6 ingredients. 3 delicious layers. 30 minutes baking. 8 crumbly squares. Many bites of salty-sweet gooey chewy snacking. Just watch…
Picking your pretzels. Most store-bought pretzels have a pretty short ingredient list, but here are some of my favorite healthy picks…
– Low sodium option: Newman’s Own Organics Unsalted Rounds
– Spelt option: Newman’s Own Organics Spelt Pretzels
– Gluten-free and soy-free option: Gluten Free Pretzel Crisps Minis
– Or if you’re really industrious, make them: Homemade Mini Pretzels from Fork and Beans
Vanilla Pretzel Fig Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 bars 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups crushed pretzels
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 16 pitted Medjool dates
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder (or 1 tsp extract)
- 5–6 fresh figs (sliced)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats and pretzel crumbs.
- Blend the dates, water, and vanilla in a blender until smooth. Remove 1/4 cup of the date paste and set aside.
- Add the rest of the date paste to the dry mixture. Mix with your hands until it is a thick clumpy dough.
- Press the dough into a 9×5″ loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
- Spread the reserved date paste on top.
- Arrange a single layer of sliced figs on top of the date paste.
- Bake for about 30 minutes at 300F.
- Remove from the oven. Cool. Cut into squares. Devour!
