It's February, and if you're anything like me, now is the time when you start wishing for the thaw. The snow has come, I had fun, and now, well, now I'm ready to plant my garden. This time of year definitely has me digging deep into my freezer to pull out the frozen products from last year's gardening efforts. I use my pesto stash much more freely, and a few days ago, I pulled out a few containers of shredded zucchini that I had parboiled and just slightly and frozen.
While I had been overwhelmed by the amount of zucchini my single plant seemed to produce last year, seeing those white and green shreds packed deep in my freezer were a welcome contrast to my overcast, gray winter days. If you don't have your own, don't worry. Just buy a bag of frozen pieces and send them through the food processor.
I had planned on making zucchini bread loaves when I originally took my zucchini out of the freezer to thaw, but my mind was changed indefinitely when I visited Deb's blog and saw these. I instantly started dreaming of a creamy orange-kissed center inside my favorite quick bread mix. It didn't disappoint.
Orange Zucchini and Ricotta Muffins
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup applesauce
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Filling
1 whole grated peel from medium orange
½ cup ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons sour cream
Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease line muffin tins with foil. In a large bowl or a mixer, beat the eggs until they are a deep lemony yellow. Beat in sugar, and then stir in shredded zucchini, 2/3 cup orange juice and the applesauce. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel.
Mix together ricotta, sour cream and orange peel. Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with batter. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center and cover to fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
Bake at 350ºF for 25 to 30 minutes until tops spring back when touched lightly. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Store in the fridge.
Makes 24 muffins.
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