Savory Vegan Chickpea Flour & Shredded Zucchini Muffins

Yes, yes, I know this is ANOTHER squash post. I can only hope I'll be saying the same thing with butternuts, candy roasters or pumpkins in a few months, but until then I'm still trying to find even more ways to use up the last of my Zucchino Rampicante harvest! Well, maybe not the last. There may be more...

No complaints here, though. Gardening can be full of such highs and lows that I will gladly take any abundance we get. Plus it's been fun to share some of these lately with friends and family for them to enjoy, as well. At least now we know just how prolific these bad boys can be, so perhaps next year two plants will do instead of the 4-5 that we had this season.

Anyway, I've been using these in just about everything. From soups and stews to pasta and grain bowls. Grilled, roasted, sautéed, dehydrated. I can't say I've tried everything, but there have been a few weeks at least a small amount of squash has made it into almost every meal. Last week I opted to put some shredded zucchino into chocolate muffins that were a bit more on the sweet side. Which made me think this week to do them in a more savory manner.

I originally started looking for cornbread recipes before realizing I didn't have any cornmeal on hand. However, I did have chickpea flour in my pantry stores, so decided that would be an excellent substitute to mix with spelt flour for an accompaniment to our chili this week. I could have sworn I had posted a recipe for chickpea flour muffins previously, but for the life of me I can't find the post I had in mind. Quite possibly it was in one of those random compilations of meals for the week that I often do, so in that case this will be much easier to hunt down in the future when I want to make these again!

They were quite easy to make, and the only somewhat "exotic" ingredient is the chickpea flour, which you can easily find at most grocery stores or international markets. It may also be called garbanzo bean flour or possibly besan (a staple in Indian cooking). Full of fiber and plant-based protein, it's a great alternative to typical flours. I have made crackers and fries out of it before, which reminds me I need to do those again soon...

One more quick note before the recipe--I used shredded zucchino rampicante, but you can easily substitute traditional zucchini or even yellow squash here if you don't have this crazy squash in your garden like we do! You may also be able to sub the spelt flour for a different whole grain flour, but baking can be finnicky so I can't attest to substitutions on that end until I try it myself. Of course you can also swap out seasonings based on your favorites for a twist on flavors!

Savor Vegan Chickpea Flour & Shredded Zucchini Muffins

Makes 10 Muffins

1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain, unsweetened plant milk (I used soy)
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water, set aside to gel)
1 heaping cup shredded zucchino(i)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a muffin tin, or use paper liners.

Whisk together your dry ingredients. Next stir in the milk and flax egg until just mixed. Finally fold in the shredded zucchini. If your mixture seems dry, add more milk as needed. Just remember the squash will release moisture as the muffins cook, so you don't want it too loose.

Scoop out the mixture and fill each slot in your muffin tin about 2/3 full. I got 10 muffins out of my batter. Add a few tablespoons of water to any empty slots to promote even baking.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are just starting to brown. Remove from heat and let cool at least 15 minutes before enjoying!

I was quite pleased on the texture of these. The squash definitely helps hold in some of the moisture as they would otherwise have a tendency to dry out a bit while cooking. I'm not much of a baker, but muffins are always an easy one to experiment with! A great one to keep in the rotation during soup season, especially since I've frozen a number of portions of shredded zukes. Though really, every season is soup season in my kitchen!

Happy cooking!