Zucchini Banana Nut Muffins

Welcome back.  I hope you all survived the holiday with your dignity and jeans still intact. Mine was lovely, thank you for asking.  I picked up a head cold but powered through.  I think it probably had something to do with the 13 kids under the age of ten on my flight home.  Upon landing on Missouri soil, I felt compelled to update my Facebook status to: "One airplane. 13 kids. 3 hours. For the price of one plane ticket, I bought 5 years of birth control." True story. 

As promised, I am here to deliver my Zucchini Banana Nut Muffins. As many of you already know, I had a slight farmer's market mishap back in Boston before I left for break.  It involved one vendor, three vegetables and a humbling experience on how pushovers never fully get what they really want.  Luckily, my failure to rectify the situation lead to some tasty kitchen creations. First it was the roasted vegetable frittata and now I give to you a great breakfast option or on-the-go snack idea. 

This recipe is a hybrid of about two or three I found online.  I like 'healthy' muffins just as much as the next girl, but I am also a dirt-poor grad student so I demand normal ingredients from recipes I wish to try.  No evaporated cane juice crystals, pomegranate molasses or arrowroot powder for this penny scraper. If you want to make these into a dessert, I would recommend folding chocolate chips in with the nuts.  Yum.

Zucchini Banana Nut Muffins 
Makes 12 muffins

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

¼ cup honey

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini 

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

¾ cup all purpose flour 

¾ cup whole-wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grate zucchini (either by hand or using a food processor), then squeeze grated zucchini to remove some of the water. Measure 1 1/2 cups zucchini and mix with the mashed bananas.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat egg and honey. Stir in the grated zucchini-banana mixture, then the oil.

Into a separate bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to the zucchini-banana mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in walnuts.

Spray individual muffin cups with non-stick spray, then divide batter evenly among cups to make 12 muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.