My family loves home-baked goods. I like dessert after a meal or after my son has gone to bed, with some herbal or decaf tea. My husband likes to enjoy dessert with his morning coffee, and I am sometimes tempted to join him because desserts do tend to go well with hot coffee. But eating dessert first thing in the morning feels wrong to me, so I usually only join in if it’s mid-morning and I’ve already had a proper (to my mind) breakfast.

The exception to this is when the baking feels ‘breakfasty’ to me. There’s something about certain pastries that feel like they’re meant for breakfast. Danishes. Croissants. Old-fashioned donuts. And really anything that makes me feel like I’m back on our honeymoon in Italy. (Though even then I always had some protein and fruit before we went out for our daily cornetti and cappuccini.)

As much as I tease my husband about his love of dessert for breakfast, I do get it, and I indulge sometimes too, after my usual eggs and toast. But especially now that we’ve got a toddler to feed, I want to be offering healthy choices. With that in mind, I’ve been developing some muffin recipes I can feel good about serving my son at breakfast or any time, starting with these delicious zucchini muffins that you won’t believe are barely sweetened! They have a lightly nutty flavour from the whole wheat flour, a moist but not cakey crumb, and a gentle hint of cinnamon. They are super low on sugar, with just a ¼ cup of maple syrup in the whole recipe… but not low on tastiness!

As a final note, this recipe is great if you’re doing a milk challenge (aka ‘climbing the dairy ladder’) with a kid. I know a few parents who have had to introduce milk slowly to their kids due to an allergy, and it can be a struggle to find healthy options for some of the steps. If you’re using this for a milk challenge, start with a low ratio of dairy to plant-based milk, and slowly increase until you’re at the full cup of dairy milk. Please note this is just a recipe, not medical advice. You should only do a milk challenge under the supervision of an appropriate medical professional, such as an allergist.

Healthy Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ tbsp baking powder 
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup oil (I use canola or vegetable oil)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 cup 2% milk or an alternative
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (about one zucchini)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F, and spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
2. Mix flour through cinnamon in a medium bowl.
3. In a larger, separate bowl, beat your egg, then add the remaining wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, in two to three batches. Mix until just combined.
5. Fold in the zucchini.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin as evenly as you can, wipe up any spills, and bake for 22-26 minutes or until lightly browned. This recipe should make 12 medium-sized muffins.

Variations:

For a dairy-free alternative, substitute the milk for non-dairy milk (I like oat milk). 

If you’re doing a milk challenge / climbing the dairy ladder, this recipe is great because you can start with a low ratio of dairy milk to non-dairy milk and slowly increase the percentage of dairy. And since it’s a low-sugar recipe, you can feel great about giving these muffins to your kid every day!