Zucchini Carrot Coconut Cream Cheese Muffins

Blue Sky Bakery has me spoiled. I used to think a really great muffin could be just one flavor.

Blueberry. Pumpkin. Lemon. Chocolate. Chocolate chip.

Not anymore.

Every Blue Sky muffin has at least three different components to it. On any given day, they'll have blueberry-pineapple bran muffins, pumpkin-apple walnut muffins, and chocolate chip, peach and raspberry muffins, to name just a few favors I've seen (and tried).

They're unique and complex, and they're certainly worth the lines on the weekends. The only downside is, they don't open until after I'm at work on weekdays.

So I had to attempt a muffin of my own that Blue Sky would be proud of.

Here it is: a zucchini and carrot muffin, stuffed with barely sweetened cream cheese and topped with toasted coconut flakes.

Every bite has something a little different to it, either with taste or with texture, and I think the appearance is just delightful.

Best of all, I froze all of these muffins after baking them, and they reheat in the microwave in about 45 seconds. That means they fit into my breakfast schedule.




Zucchini Carrot Cream Cheese Muffins
recipe adapted from Tender Crumb
 
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup zucchini, packed and grated
3/4 cup carrot, packed and grated 
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut, toasted (I used sweetened, but unsweetened would also be delicious)


Cream cheese filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar, stirring until combined. Spoon in tablespoons onto a plate covered with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.  


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a standard, 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside. 


In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. 


In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, butter, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and carrots (be generous--more is better than less!). 


Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula. 


Spoon a bit of muffin batter over the bottom of each tin. Top with one of the frozen cream cheese spoonfuls. Cover with muffin batter, filling until the tins are almost ful. 


Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the side comes out clean (insert it in the center and you will probably hit the cream cheese!). 


Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then, remove the muffins from their tin and allow them to cool the rest of the way on the rack. 


Serve at room temperature, or heat them up a bit so they're warm. These are delicious frozen and reheated.

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