Nobody in my house will eat courgettes, so when I first made these muffins I renamed them Zucchini Muffins and they were a big hit as nobody really knew what a zucchini was! It is in fact the American term for courgettes!  I peeled the zucchini so there were no telltale green bits to give me away.  The orange zest is great in this recipe but if you are not a fan you can replace it with lemon zest. You can also add chocolate chips if you are feeling decadent. This can also be made into a loaf! A special thank you to my friend Sandra for the great photo.

• 118 millilitres / ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 225 grams /1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 187grams /1½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 135 grams /1½ cups loosely packed grated zucchini (peeled first if you want) about 2 zucchini
• 80 grams / ½ cup milk or dark chocolate chips

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
• Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners. If you are making this as a loaf you will need a 9×5 inch tin which should be lined with baking parchment or a loaf tin liner which is even easier.
• Whisk the oil, eggs, sugar, zest and vanilla together in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl mix the flour with the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Stir in the grated zucchini and ensure that it is coated with flour.
• Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until blended. If you are using chocolate chips stir them in now.
• Use an ice cream scoop to evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cases. Alternatively scrape all the batter into your prepared loaf tin.
• Bake the muffins for 15- 18 minutes or the loaf for 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin/cake comes out clean.

Cheat: The muffins or loaf can be frozen so all you have to do when preparing lunch boxes is to pop one in straight from the freezer.

Make these muffins gluten free by substituting the flour and baking powder with a GF variety. I like Dove’s Farm brand. Remember to include ¼ teaspoon of Xanthum gum to stop it for crumbling.