We don’t usually have problems making our son eat vegetables. If he is hungry enough, he will devour anything you give him. In fact, amongst his favorite foods are broccoli and cauliflower. He will ask for them, and when he eats them, he will sigh of contentment and say :”It’s delicious!”. We also just recently discovered that he loves baby portabello mushrooms.

Although we are blessed with a kid that eats vegetables, I know it can be a struggle for parents of picky kids to get them to eat vegetables. So “hiding” them  in other dishes is a  common strategy use in order to get some in their diet.

I adapted this recipe from a pumpkin cupcake recipe in “Decadent gluten-free vegan baking” written by Cara Reed. Instead of the pumpkin puree she used in the recipe, I used the same quantity of a zucchini puree. I chopped two medium zucchini, skin and all, into cubes and blended it until it was reduced to a puree consistency.

I reduced the amount of sugar and added  flaxmeal, which is used as an egg substitute in vegan recipes. The result is light and fluffy, perfect to eat at breakfast or snack time for the little picky eaters.

Zucchini muffins

Makes 12 muffins

DRY
2 cups of All-purpose gluten free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free all purpose baking flour)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

WET INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup of zucchini puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
2TBsp flax meal plus 6TBsp water- thickened for 5 min
1Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)

Preheat the oven at 350°F. Line a muffin pan or lightly grease it.

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients thouroughly.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until the batter is just combined. Scoop the batter in the cupcake pan. Bake for 18-22 min until knife comes out smooth when inserted.

Allow to cool a couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.