Zucchini Muffins

I can't believe I've never baked with zucchini. We love zucchini and I use it a lot in savory recipes like Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries, Zucchini Corn Pizza, Cheesy Zucchini Rice, zucchini fritters, on skewers, in summer pastas, etc. But this was my first time baking with it.



The result? So good!! None of us could taste the zucchini. Now, I'll admit this is not exactly the healthiest recipe. If you're looking for a healthy way to get your kids to eat veggies, this isn't it. But they were delicious and a great way to use up zucchini that was past its prime.

The original recipe said it would yield 12 muffins. I got 15. I'm also not one to measure certain ingredients so I probably had more than 2 cups of shredded zucchini.

Zucchini Muffins
As seen on Land O Lakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 medium (2 cups) zucchini, shredded

Heat oven to 350. Put paper baking cups into 12 (or more) muffin pan cups; set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl; mix well. Combine butter and eggs in bowl; stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in zucchini.

Use an ice cream scoop to fill prepared muffin pan cups three-fourths full with batter. Bake 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan; remove to cooling rack.

Tired of warm beer at parties? Enter the NewAir Beer Froster

This post is sponsored by NewAir. I received a Beer Froster in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Hi folks. Steve here with a guest blog post. Sadly, alcohol doesn’t agree with Sarah (more often than not she’s left battling a nasty migraine) so I’m our household’s official subject matter expert on all things alcohol. When the good folks at NewAir offered us an opportunity to try out their Beer Froster beer fridge, I offered to write the product review.

Bottom line: I’d recommend this whole-heartedly to anyone who’s ever had to suffer through warm beer at a party. Friends don’t let friends drink warm beer, right? But party planning can sometimes be a mad rush to get ready and mistakes get made.

(Remember parties? Those were fun. Hopefully we’ll be entertaining safely again soon but we’ll definitely be out of practice).

I’ve been there; I’m sure you have, too. You get to the party, or worse, you are the host of the party and you see the beer sitting in a tub of ice. Maybe not even submerged in the ice - sitting on top like it’s being merchandised in a store. Then your friend reaches in and hands you a Trojan brew. You have your doubts, but the bottle or can is cold to the touch. So you pop the top and take a swig only to be greeted by beer the temperature of warm chicken broth that had been sitting in the August sun since about a half hour before you arrived.



Well, enter the Beer Froster! This product holds 125 cans. I’m a bottle guy and I got more than 50 bottles in there. Perfect amount for a party. You hit the Turbo button and the compressor on this baby runs a cool 24 degrees for an hour, getting your beer nice and cold. It takes away the shame and stigma of serving less than ideal beer to family and friends.

If you’re like Sarah and the ultimate planner, just remember to hit the Party button when you wake up and the compressor runs a good 6 hours at 24 degrees for a slower chill down. This also helps ward off those friends who stand there with the door open taking 10 minutes to choose a beer. There’s even a handy light that you can activate from the outside so you can easily see the selections through the glass front door.

The Beer Froster is true to its name, though I will offer some pro tips if you should decide to add this little wonder to your man cave or kitchen. First, arrange the shelves for optimum storage. It’s designed for cans, but bottles require a little care to load in properly. Also, allow for about 24 hours for the fridge to get to a cool 24 degrees the first time you turn it on. The last point, and this is my only criticism of the appliance, is that the compressor does emit an audible hum that some may find distracting. After experiencing the low hum we made the choice to locate the fridge in our basement instead of the kitchen just because we are overly sensitive to noise. Your mileage may vary.

All in all, the Beer Froster certainly lives up to its name in helping to insure the beer you are serving, or enjoying alone, is crisp and cold. In my heyday I used to go to this bar that touted the “Coldest beer in Trenton (N.J.)” and it was. Often you got served a beer that had frozen solid and they had to swap it out for a new one. I haven’t had a colder beer since then, until this beauty came into my life.

NewAir is offering readers 20% off the Beer Froster! Use code SARAH_BATES at checkout.