The Great Zucchini

When I was in grade school, one of the annual events that took place was the Zucchini Festival. I remember there being a contest where you had to "dress up" a zucchini as if it were a person, and mine had bright pink hair made from Mr. Noodles and food colouring, and arms made of green onions with the roots dangling at the end like little fingers. I remember it well because I won first prize. 

Fast forward to present day. My aunt recently gifted me with a giant zucchini. Giant as in, I shredded it in the food processor and ended up with 8 cups of zucchini! What to do with it...well, most of it ended up in the freezer until I figure out what to do with it.

But I dug up my tattered old Zucchini Cookbook that my mom had kept from that year I won the Zucchini Festival. The cookbook is full of horrible typos and 12 different fonts, but it's also full of love, from all the moms and teachers that submitted their favorite zucchini recipes during the festival. My mom's recipe for Zucchini Pineapple is on page 1. There's a couple of recipes for chocolate zucchini baked goods, which inspired me to make Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
3 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbps water (or other egg replacer equal to 3 eggs)
1 cup sugar
1/2 agave nectar
1/2 cup coconut butter spread (or earth balance soy butter)
3/4 cup coconut milk (or other "milk")
7 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups, grated zucchini
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350
Using an electric mixer with large bowl, combine flax + water, sugar and agave. Add in "butter", "milk" and grated zucchini. Stir until mixed. In a separate bowl, sift all of the dry ingredients except chocolate chips. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until fully incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into muffin liners or lightly greased muffin tins. Bake for 35-40 minutes.