Walking the trail the other day with my tribe, Tammy, her dog Morgan, and Cindy, we got to talking about all the delicious blackberries that we were passing. Then we started chatting about all the stuff growing in our gardens and available at the roadside farm stands.
Because my own garden was late getting in the ground this year, my zucchinis were just getting ready. We thought, how yummy would blackberry zucchini bread be?
With only two of us at home now, the best thing for me is to make muffins instead of bread, because hello….I’d eat the whole loaf, but the muffins I could share with peeps. I was hoping this would keep them from tempting me to finish them all off. Out of sight, out of my belly, right?
Once I got home, I ran out and picked a bowl of fresh blackberries, snipped off a couple of ripe zucchinis. The berries were rinsed, the zucchini was shredded, and I was set to baking.
First, I mixed together the wet ingredients. Next, when measuring out my dry ingredients, I opted for a couple of substitutions. Instead of all-purpose white flour, I went for a whole-wheat flour. Why? Yes, everyone says its healthier for you and there’s that, but I love the warm richness I get when baking breads and muffins when I make this substitution.
Blending these two together, I then folded in the zucchini. Lastly, while many recipes call for “chopped” blackberries, I left mine whole and because I wanted to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of my muffins, I coated them with collagen protein powder.
Is this normal? No, most people will coat their berries with flour, but the consistency of the Great Lakes Collagen Protein Powder is the same. The added plus is that I just added more protein to my muffins, and I get the health benefits of collagen. I love making this substitution. You can also substitute 1/4 cup of the flour in the recipe for a protein powder. It’s a win-win in my view. Now, fold those berries into your batter gently as they will break apart depending on their ripeness.
Now you are ready to fill your lined muffin tins. Fill them 2/3 full and if you want you can sprinkle them with the last part of the recipe, a crumb topping. Bake and share. Or eat. Whatever floats your boat Peeps!
I will tell you that these muffins were a huge hit! Especially since I popped down to work while they were still warm to hand them out to the luck few that happened to be there.
Happy Baking Peeps!
Whole Wheat Zucchini Blackberry Muffins
Ingredients
Zucchini Blackberry Muffins
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup canola oil
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups finely shredded zucchini
- 1½ cups fresh blackberries
- 1 scoop Collagen Protein Powder
Crumb Topping
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp butter chilled and cubed
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Zucchini Blackberry Muffins
- Preheat oven to 350° and line muffins tins with liners.
- Rinse your blackberries and shred your zucchini. Set aside.
- Whisk together wet ingredients until well blended.
- Stir together dry ingredients until well combined.
- Stir wet and dry ingredients together until just moist. Fold in zucchini.
- Carefully coat blackberries with collagen protein powder, optional. Gently fold in blackberries to batter.
- Fill muffin liners ⅔ of the way. *Sprinkle on crumb topping if you choose to at this time.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops bounce back and are golden brown.
- Let cool for 10 minutes and then remove. Place in airtight container.
- Enjoy!
Crumb Topping (Optional)
- In a small bowl, add sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter.
- Mix together with fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles sand. Sprinkle a little over the top of each muffin.
