No work - so Baking!

Well, I was a bit mysterious before about what I did at the end of July... Did you catch that?  I quit my job to focus on school (which starts in about two weeks) and I found an internship in which I get to write and support a great cause.  The internship doesn't take up much of my time, so I have actually had the opportunity to bake at least once a week since my last day.  Baking/Cooking can be so much fun, and so relaxing... I have never really taken the time just to relax and cook.   I always feel like I can skimp on what I am eating in order to do something more exciting.

Yesterday I was able to make Zucchini cake muffins - using a recipe that makes it into Zucchini bars.  The recipe is from Italian So Fat, Low Fat, No Fat by Betty Rohde.  It is a great recipe to trick the kids into eating something that is healthy.    It is a spice cake type of recipe.  The recipe calls for raisins, my family and I add chocolate chips to it... it's just plain awesome.

The Recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
½ cup fat-free margarine, at room temperature (I use regular unsalted butter)
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup egg substitute (2 eggs equal ½ cup)
2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 ½ cups shredded zucchini
1 cup golden raisins (I substitute with chocolate chips)

Steps:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.
2) In large mixing bowl, cream the margarine and brown sugar together until fluffy.  Beat in vanilla and eggs
3) In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; stir with a whisk until well blended.
4) Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
5) Stir in Zucchini and raisins (chocolate chips).
6) Turn the dough into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
7) Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Note: for the muffins make sure you a) only fill the container 2/3 of the way full b) It takes about 20 minutes to bake - but keep on checking every 5-10 minutes

Ingredients for glaze (we don’t really use this):
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons fat-free margarine, at room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Steps:
1) Mix sugar and margarine until blended.
2) Stir in lemon juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until smooth and of a desired consistency
3) Spread the glaze on the cake while it is still warm.  Cut into bars when cool 

I added a chocolate chip on the top of each for creative flair.

I hope you enjoy the recipe :)