Zucchini Bread & How to Puree Veggies for Quick Breads.

Quick and easy Zucchini Bread or Muffins using pureed veggies. This recipe is perfect if you're up to your ears in garden zucchini + How to puree and freeze veggies to use for quick bread, muffins or sauces. 
Hi Everyone I wanted to add a quick recipe post before I head out of town. We are going to visit family and we are so excited. As of last night I have a brand new baby Niece!!!! Sophie Bell, I cant wait to meet you!!!! I wish I had a photo to share but they haven't sent any out yet. But no worries Auntie Tina will be bringing her camera.

The other day on face book I had mentioned that I came across some zucchini in the clearance bin at Kroger. I got a dozen zucchini squash for $2I was so excited I sauteed a little bit of it for lunch and pureed and froze the rest. Well not before I made a batch of these yummy Zucchini Bread Muffins.

My little guy Carson is known around our house as the Muffin Man!!! If I want him to eat something nutritious, I just toss it in a muffin and he gobbles it up. Carson has a pretty good eye for detecting veggies, so I always puree them instead of shredding to help disguise whatever I want to add to my muffin recipes.

I usually steam and puree a big batch of zucchini and carrots along with some white beans then separate them into individual freezer bags for quick recipes like this one. I have included a few photos at the end of this post on how I puree and store my veggies for muffins and breads.


My little guy never knows that all the muffins he consumes is packed with some kind of veggie. It's really the only way I can get him to eat vegetables and beans. Carson thinks these are spice muffins.

I usually make carrot and spice, banana and white bean and sweet potato muffins. Carson loves all of them. I really want to try my hand at black bean and chocolate muffin next.
There are so many possibilities so it ought to be fun. Here is the recipe and some photos of the Zucchini Bread Muffins, Enjoy!!

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, applesauce and pureed or shredded zucchini. Add all the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.


Add nuts and pour the batter into muffin tins, filling each tin about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.


Let cool slightly before removing from the muffin pan. Cool completely and store in a air tight container.



How to Puree & Freeze Veggies for Quick Breads 
Here are a few photos of how I steam carrots and zucchini to save for quick breads, cakes and sauces. I used my blade attachment to my Cuisinart hand mixer to mash up the veggies. You can also do this in a regular blender, but you will have to add about 1/4 cup water as you puree them.

Add the pureed veggies in 1-2 cup measurements and store in a ziplock sandwich bags. I like to store all the sandwich bags into a gallon size freezer bag. Date and label the bag and place in the freezer. When ready to use, thaw out the amount needed (drain off any water) and add to any quick bread, muffin or sauce recipe. 




Zucchini Bread or Muffins
 
2 - large eggs
1/2 - cup vegetable, canola or coconut oil
1/2 - cup unsweetened applesauce or homemade
1 - teaspoon vanilla extract
1 - cup light brown sugar
2 - cups shredded or pureed zucchini squash
2 - cups self rising flour or use half whole wheat flour
1 - teaspoon baking soda
3 - teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 x 4 x  2 inch loaf pan or muffin tin with non stick baking spray or use muffin liners.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, applesauce and pureed or shredded zucchini.

Add all the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined. Add nuts and pour the batter into bread pan or muffin tins, filling each tin about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes for muffins or 45 - 50 minutes for bread or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before removing from muffin tin or bread pan.

Recipe yields about 12-14 muffins or 1 loaf of bread 



23 comments

Yep, that's the way to do it! Have you seen the cookbooks Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious? Great way to sneak in those veggies for the little ones. Can you believe I bought DD to sneak some in on The Cajun LOL?!

Have a safe trip & congrats Auntie Tina!!
Tina Butler said…
Mary that is so funny!! I guess we gotta do what we gotta do no matter what age they are. Have a great weekend Mary.
☺lani☺ said…
First Congrats to your new family member and Have a nice weekend!
Now I know what to do with so much vegetables, just puree them!
Thanks Tina!
abi said…
I have a surprise for you at my blog
http://abis-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com/2010/06/award-time.html
Julie M. said…
Congrats on the new niece! These are some great ideas for pureeing and storing veggies. Thanks for sharing!
Anonymous said…
I wish i would have thought about pureeing more when my boys were young, Deceptively Delicious is a fun read!
anne
www.anniebakes.net
Sheri said…
Thanks for sharing the muffin recipe with us. I never thought to puree and freeze for future use. Great idea and one I'll use!
Deb Chitwood said…
The muffins look delicious! I'll have to try them! I love using applesauce in recipes.
Anonymous said…
I found your site by googling for zucchini bread recipes and made your muffins according to the recipe. I left out the optional nuts and was free with cinnamon & nutmeg. Viola! These are the best--better by far than my own experiments using applesauce to replace part of the oil. My child is grown but you taught me something new about preserving zucchini for baking--I've never blanched my zucchini before freezing for baked items. I'm convined I'll be happier with this puree than the freezer burnt shredded I've always used (or added to compost in the spring.)
Matilda said…
I love this idea, I found your blog hopping around the web. I am going to try these muffins for sure.

Matilda
http://sickofood.blogspot.com/
Charlene said…
i enjoy zucchini but never thought of making bread with zucchini as the prime ingredient. mmmm this recipe looks like it will be delicious though. i cannot wait to try this. luckily for me and my kitchen, this recipe doesn't appear too complicated. wish me luck
Anonymous said…
I've been using a ninja kitchen to chop the carrots into very fine peices ... I find that the muffins are coming out flat. ANy ideas?
Becks said…
I have to thank you for this recipe! I'm an au pair in France and the three kids that I take care of don't eat any vegetables and barely any fruits!! I made these muffins today in a last attempt to get them eating healthy.

The 10 year old just walked into the kitchen to ask if he could try a cupcake. I'm not typically a liar but when he asked me why it was an odd tinge of green I told him it was because I decided to add some green food colouring. A little white lie never hurt anyone, right?

He ate his, and I'm hoping it will work on his sisters too!

Thank you :)
Anonymous said…
I made these this morning for my 1 year old. He liked them, and I am so glad because he is in a picky phase. I ommited the nutmeg and added a handful of raisins. I also only put in 1/2 cup brown sugar. They came out very moist and even my husband liked them. Thanks for the recipe!
Slow Cookers said…
Bread with zucchini great. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Monika said…
Just made these and tried one my daughter and I love them!!!! Thanks so much for the recipe very moist and delicious!
Anonymous said…
I was wondering if one has an allergy to Cinnamon can there be a substitute spice(s)? Like Nutmeg or Ground Cloves- perhaps both?
Unknown said…
Just in time for summer!
Unknown said…
omg I love you, you are my hero! So awesome I'm going to be doing this from now on. I don't know why I didn't think to just puree and freeze ahead like... forever ago. Definitely going to try this recipe too. My son is so picky he will only eat the tops of muffins... I think I'm going to get a mini-muffin tin and see if he will start eating the whole thing. Totally trying this recipe thank you!
Anonymous said…
I also puree my zucchini and freeze it. I have used it for making zucchini pancakes (add chocolate to disguise from kids) and have added it to spaghetti and chili and no one knows. This year I've been adding fresh zucchini to smoothies. I did not blanch it before I put it in the freezer and I added no water for pureeing. It doesn't seem freezer burnt to me. Do you think it is necessary to add the blanching?
Victoria said…
I only had one zucchini so I pureed that and then I had 3 ripe bananas that I wanted to use so I mashed them up and added to the recipe. I actually forgot to put in the brown sugar and didn't realize it until after they were baked but the sweetness from the bananas saved them. My extremely picky eater son loves them even without the sugar - my hubs and I think they are a touch bland without the sugar but they are mostly for my kids anyway - just thought I would share for any moms who are wanting to cut some of the sugar out :) Thanks for a great recipe to hide some veggies!
Gail L said…
Thank you for sharing this. I just made Zucchini soup with my PC Cooking Blender and need to know how to puree & freeze the rest of the zucchini for baking. Much appreciated.
Anonymous said…
so the vegetables are cooked halfway as being blanched then pureed to freeze. veggies here dont get ate that fast and thats a good idea for the breads