“Muffin” Monday Peach Lavender Zucchini

If you haven’t guessed by now… I like to bake with what is on hand. And right now… the gardens of Maryland are bursting with Zucchini. Although my particular Zuke plants have been stubbornly unyeilding, my nephew John gifted me a zucchini the size of a small child.  I scooped out the seeds, sliced it up and put it through the food processor.  I got enough grated Zucchini for this recipe, a bonus batch (Dark Chocolate Chip Z. Bread) and some rather yummy Zucchini and sausage soup. So don’t throw out those over sized Zukes.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Sugar
4 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
4 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
3 Eggs
1 cup Oil
3 teaspoons Vanilla
1 teaspoon finely chopped lavender plus 1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup very ripe peaches, chopped
3 cups Zucchini, grated

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and prep 8 small loaf pans with baking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine the Sugar, Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Pumpkin Pie Spice.
3. In a smaller bowl beat the Eggs. Add the Oil and Vanilla.
4. Gently fold in the Lavender/Sugar  then add the Peaches.
5. Add the liquid to the dry and mix.
6. Add the Zucchini and mix.
7. Divide batter evenly into the loaf pans.
8. Bake for about an hour or until the loaves pass the toothpick test.
9. Let cool for 15 minutes and enjoy.

BONUS RECIPE: For the Dark Chocolate Chip Z. Bread… replace the peaches and Lavender with one bag of Dark Chocolate Chips. (Yes, I am that clever.)

Both Zucchini Bread variants were well received. I think the Lavender scared a few people off, and I got more requests for the Dark Choc. Chip. But really, both the peach and the lavender melted into the batter and were barely detectable after everything was baked. the same with the zucchini (It probably helped that I used the fine whole side of the grater blade.)  Both these recipes were delicious. The Chocolate had a bit more flavor, the Peach Rosemary was for more refined tastes. The house smelled AMAZING through out the entire process.