Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Well, I'm sad to report that my recent Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins, which I said may be perfect, are not - while I still stand by the deliciousness and healthfulness claims, they have the fatal flaw of being completely rejected by the munchkin.  And while hubby thought it was good news that there would be more left for him, a big reason I make muffins is so that I can have healthy snacks on hand for the munchkin.  I'm pretty sure that the reason she didn't like them was the walnuts and cranberries, so I decided to make a similar veggie-packed muffin without the mix-ins.  I could have remade the same recipe, but I have been wanting to make my Carrot Cupcakes again as a muffin (i.e., no glaze), so I thought maybe I could use that recipe and replace half of the carrots with zucchini.  And while I was at it, I decided to play around with an agave-sugar mixture instead of all agave in order to test a hypothesis that agave makes things brown a lot and also leads to stickiness.

In the end I didn't quite solve the stickiness problem, but they sure came out tasty.  Next time I'll try without any agave and possibly cut down on the sugar amount altogether (they have a moderate amount, but are pretty sweet anyway).  In the mean time I'd just recommend greasing the pan really well or using muffin liners when you make these, because the result is delicious and packed with wholesome ingredients.  And they even passed the munchkin test - what more can I say :)

Carrot Zucchini Muffins
adapted from me!

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 1 1/2 muffin tins with paper liners or spray well with oil (I got 24 mini + 6 standard muffins).

In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  In a large bowl, mix together carrots, zucchini, coconut, agave, eggs, applesauce and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until well blended. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes for mini and 25 minutes for regular muffins until brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans.
 
Makes the equivalent of 18 standard or 36 mini muffins