I’ve had the same schedule at work for almost three years now.
Working in retail means that having both Saturday and Sunday off isn’t really an option, but I do get Sundays off so I still (sort of) get to enjoy the weekends with the rest of the world. The only problem, especially in the summer, is that the only green markets that are even remotely convenient to me aren’t open on Sundays.
The green market in Union Square is open on Saturdays and Mondays, but of course I don’t have Mondays off either. This means that Russell, who is off on Mondays, is responsible for any green market purchases for the week, and the remainder of our groceries are purchased at our neighborhood grocery store.
Sometimes I have specific things in mind that I ask Russell to pick up for me, but usually he just wanders around until he sees something that looks good and he grabs it. This usually works out just great, but sometimes I get home from work on Monday to find a bag full of really random and disjointed produce purchases that I get to plan around for the rest of the week.
If this sounds like a complaint, I assure you that it’s not. It actually kind of forces me to get creative and try to make meal plans and think of blog posts that would work with the items at hand. I am (or at least I try to be) pretty anal about the whole “waste not want not” thing, so it drives me crazy to let our produce spoil before we get to use it up. Sometimes I’ll just come up with some kind of “kitchen sink” recipe like a salad or stir fry to use everything up if I really have no clue what to do. Sometimes these recipes don’t really work out, but they usually do, and sometimes they can really pay off.
This is one of those pay off recipes. Russell came home with a bag full of stuff on Monday, including a couple big zucchinis and a pint of some of the season’s first blueberries. On seeing those blueberries I knew pretty instantly that I wanted to make some muffins, but after some thought I decided to throw in one of the zucchinis just for fun.
The next morning, as I went to gather my ingredients, I realized that I was dangerously low on flour and wouldn’t have enough for a full muffin recipe. It was pretty early, Russell was still sleeping and I was still in my boxers, and I reeeeeally didn’t want to go to the store. If I don’t have to put pants on on my day off, believe you me, it ain’t gonna happen.
For a brief second I was ready and willing to accept defeat and just toast an English muffin for breakfast instead, but then I remembered these cookies I made in March. To give the cookies a really interesting lacy texture, old fashioned rolled oats are turned into oat flour in the food processor, which is then mixed with regular white flour and some whole rolled oats. Not only is oat flour a healthy(ish) whole grain alternative to white flour, it also adds a really warm nutty flavor and chewy texture to anything you make with it.
So, out came the food processor and oat flour happened yet again.
The only issue is that oat flour doesn’t really seem to absorb liquid the same way as white flour, so the batter seemed a bit loose, and the muffins didn’t really rise as much as I’d hoped they would. I ended up making them again a few days later (at Russell’s request) and tried using a little bit more white flour to thicken the batter just a bit, and that seemed to do the trick to get them to rise. This second batch came out slightly lighter in color with a more rounded and crunchier top, but I’m a terrible lazy blogger and they didn’t really look all that different so I didn’t bother shooting new photos. The photos here are of the first batch, but the recipe below reflects the added flour and slightly thicker batter.
Look. I understand that I’m essentially asking you to mill your own flour for this recipe, but I swear it’s not a big deal. If you have a food processor or a blender it takes less than five minutes and then the rest of the recipe is basically just stirring.
I promise you that the little bit of extra effort is worth it; these muffins are seriously tasty. They’re just sweet enough with a little bit of extra sweetness and crunch from the demerara sugar on top. They’re soft and tender and moist, but with a really delicate chewiness (and nuttiness) from the oat flour. The zucchini and blueberries complement each other surprisingly well, and Russell keeps saying that these little muffins taste like summer. You may have figured this out when I said that he requested I make them twice in one week, but they’re totally addictive. In theory they’re also pretty healthy(ish) if eat just one or two, but between the two of us half a dozen were devoured less than half an hour after they came out of the oven, so I’m not sure if “healthy” is a word that would actually apply anymore!
Blueberry Zucchini Oat Muffins
1 1/2 cups rolled oats, divided
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup demerara sugar or other coarse sanding sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place 1 cup of rolled oats in the bowl of a food processor and grind into a fine powder. It’s okay if there are some unevenly sized pieces, but you want it to resemble the texture of whole wheat flour. Transfer oat flour to a large bowl along with the remaining 1/2 cup of rolled oats and all remaining dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and oil together until combined, and then stir in the grated zucchini. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the zucchini, egg, oil mixture. Gently stir together until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the blueberries just until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners and fill the liners about 3/4 full with batter. Sprinkle a little bit of demerara sugar over the tops of each muffin just before they go into the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool for about 15 or 20 minutes on a wire rack before removing the muffins to cool completely.
Brooklyn Homemaker 
Somehow I find it hard to believe a Bundt Cake Professional like yourself ran low on flour, but perhaps that’s from making all those beautiful bundt cakes.
I feel the same way when I go to the farmers’ market. Even though I am the one picking out the veggies and fruits I have to restrict myself because I do not know what I will do with most of it and end up with random and disjointed produce like you end up with. Ha!
These muffins are so creative and spot on! I was thinking about making some zucchini bread soon, but perhaps I will make muffins instead… YUM! :)
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I couldn’t believe it myself but I’m sure it’s related to too many cakes and not enough grocery runs! Would you believe that after making these muffins I also ended up running out of sugar and baking powder all at once and had to schlep all my baking stuff home with me all at once!
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Wow! You better get a wholesale membership and shop in bulk…lol!
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I think you can add shredded zucchini to almost everything. It isn’t very flavorful and hides well in all sorts of recipes. So if you have an abundance of the zukes at a good prices, enjoy them in soups and sauces and baking. And if you have freezer space …
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I’ve had some really great zucchini brownies before! Yum!
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These pictures are stunning, you really nailed the lighting! I’m obsessed with zucchini, even though I pretend to hate healthy things. It’s just so versatile! My father in law bought me a spiralizer last year and we have zucchini “pasta” all the time. You rock!
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Thank you so much! I’ve been having a really hard time finding time to shoot photos on days with good light- my days off from work have all tended to be grey and crumby, and it’s been raining like crazy here lately- so I’ve actually just had to make up for it in editing!
I have one of those spiralizers too but it doesn’t get nearly as much use as it probably should! Tis the season though!
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These look fantastic, and I love that you paired a summery fruit and a summery vegetable!! I’m completely with you on the pants matter – I like to think of my aversion to wearing pants on days off as a natural impetus to get creative with substitutions in the kitchen :)
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Haha! I’ve always had an aversion to pants! Russell thinks it’s hilarious but I basically strip down the second I walk in the door after work! I love summer too since I don’t have to wear socks at all for a whole season!
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I grow zucchini and have them coming out my -yes, well I have so many recipes in baked goods using these zucchini’s, they lend moisture content as well. Bravo job well done Tux. Have a safe and fun 4th of July!
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Thanks Cheryl! That’s always how it goes with zucchini isn’t it! Suddenly boom! You’re swimming in it!
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Yes, I love to make zucchini boats with lots of mozzarella cheese baked in the oven-Oh YUM! Zucchini breads, muffins all types of food stuff. Zoodles (Zucchini noddles using a spiralizer) oh the list goes on and on. Glad the muffins were a hit with Russell and he wanted more!
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Okay now I have another great recipe for using some of the bumper crop of zucchini that is here in Tennessee. Great and edible looking photos. Happy 4th of July.
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Hope you like them!
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It just occurred to me that I’ve never eaten zucchini. Your muffins look so delicious! I’ll have to try them soon.
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Zucchini is great- kind of a mild flavor but very versatile. They work great in sweet and savory dishes!
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Hello Tux,
I keep forgetting to write you to let you know that I’ve made these muffins the same day you posted the recipe. There were absolutely delicious and I made them twice more since then. I changed nothing at all, apart from sprinkle some brown sugar on top before baking, which gave them really nice look and delicious crunch.
The only thing I’d like to note,-your recipe says ‘Servings: about 24 muffins’. All three time I made them I can manage to bake no more them 16 (and it’s being really stingy with batter).
Thank you again for this recipe, I’ll make them again and again, and would recommend everyone to try these muffins, as they are seriously delicious!
All the best,
Yana
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This is awesome to hear! So glad you like them so much!!!
I’ll make an adjustment to the recipe quantity- I got 23 muffins but maybe my muffins pans are a bit small
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Thank you for the awesome recipe!
All the best,
Yana :)
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