For years I’ve been making low-sugar, grain-free muffins, breads, cookies, granolas—if for no other reason than to satisfy my own sweet tooth without putting me into a diabetic state, which is where I was over 20 years ago when I was subsisting on a high-carb, low-fat diet.  What a miserable nightmare that was.  At first, I felt like I had to completely give up all those “treats” that I love until I began to tinker with recipes to lower the sugar content and found that I could get away with it much of the time.

The first recipe I ever tried to make “lower-sugar” was for Peanut Blossoms, peanut butter cookies with the big Hershey kiss pressed into the top.  I needed to bring something into my daughter’s class one day and thought, “let’s see how well these go over.”  They actually came out looking “normal” and the kids didn’t seem to notice the difference–maybe because the giant drop of chocolate on the top masked the lower sweetness in the cookie.  From then on, I decided if I could get away with it, I would make lower sugar versions of our treats.   And now, after baking that way for so long, I prefer foods that are not so sweet.

There is nothing I love more than a cup of coffee and a muffin in the morning and it took years—actually decades, to arrive at the recipes I’m using now since over time, I’ve experimented with different sugars and flours as I slowly reduced the amount of grains I eat.

One thing that I had all but given up when I eliminated wheat from my diet (I do allow it occasionally) is English muffins.  As a kid, I used to slather them with butter and grape jelly, or peanut butter and bananas and I could easily eat that everyday.  Yup, I’m a creature of habit for sure and when I find something I like, I tend to stick with it.   At the moment, that means that I don’t need to go far when I want to enjoy a muffin in the morning.

Because of my slight obsession with English muffins growing up, I’m constantly looking at English muffin recipes online and they often contain ingredients that I don’t want to use in my baking and I haven’t given the process of coming up with a recipe of my own due diligence—someday.

A couple of years ago, I discovered my new favorite baking pan that is similar to a muffin pan, except it has only six, wider, shallow wells.  I’ve used the pan for making everything from salmon burgers, grain-free rolls, mini cakes and brownies, mini frittatas, and now toaster muffins.  The recipe below is one that I’ve been using for years to make muffins and mini breads, and now using the 6-well baking pan, I bake the batter into shallow muffins that are the perfect size for slicing in half and toasting.   Although not the same as a traditional “bready” English muffin, I feel like I’m having the same experience with one of these warm, toasty muffins with my favorite toppings.

Banana Zucchini Toaster Muffins

Whisk together the following “wet” ingredients: 

3 cups shredded zucchini

1 banana, mashed

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

¼ cup turbinado sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

¼ cup dried cranberries, minced

Whisk together the following dry ingredients:

2.5 cups almond flour

1 cup protein powder (whey or diary free)

4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven at 350 °C.  Add the whisked dry ingredients to the whisked wet ingredients and gently fold them together.

Spoon ~1/3 cup of the batter into each well of the pans* and bake for ~20 minutes or until the center pops back when gently pressed.  Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes before using a silicon spatula to loosen and remove them from the pan.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or wrap and freeze—they freeze really well.

Eat “as is,” or slice horizontally and pop in the toaster and top with whatever your heart desires—butter, nut butter, fruit spreads, hemp seeds, etc.

*Note:  The batter will also be enough for about 14 regular sized muffins or 5 mini bread loaves. Both take about 25 – 30 minutes to bake.