mmmmmmm

I'm very tired today, so I don't have much to say about these except that they are so delicious, moist, and help you get your veggies. Oh--and they look so pretty on a sea-foam-green platter! The recipe is a combination of one from the Penzey's catalog and one from my mother-in-law. We have a couple dozen frozen so we can enjoy them year-round. You can also grate and freeze raw zucchini, and could use that to make these during the winter. Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. white vinegar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups finely diced or grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside. Beat butter, oil, and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour milk mixture and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir by hand. Stir in the zucchini and 1/2 of the chocolate chips.

Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans (or grease a 9x13 pan if you prefer a whole cake). Fill each liner with batter 2/3 of the way. Sprinkle the batter with the rest of the chocolate chips and the nuts (if using). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly and the cake springs back to the touch (but avoid the chocolate chips!). Let cool, then remove cupcakes from pan.