Zucchini & Pistachio Muffins w/ Lemon Icing

I never understood the appeal of zucchini.

I love the flowers the plants produce in the garden (great for stuffing and frying), but zucchini is bland and just a vehicle for other things.

Grilled and doused with balsamic vinegar or sauteed with garlic in butter, ok, but other than that a waste of my time.

My lovely neighbor has a garden full, and I was the recipient of a few green monsters, so a zucchini cake it would be.

I decided to make muffins, because they travel well, and I like to take baked goods on planes and trains (traveling a bit this summer and like to be prepared).

These were fantastic.....pistachios and zucchini just go well together.

Zucchini & Pistachio Muffins w/ Lemon Icing: makes 10 muffins


1 stick (half cup) butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 lemon zested
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small (1 cup) shredded zucchini
3/4 cup pistachios, ground in food processor or coffee grinder

1 1/2 cup flour (I used 1 cup "00" Italian flour + 1/2 cup almond flour)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grate the zucchini on a box grater into a bowl.

Mix the melted butter with the ground pistachios, vanilla, egg, sugar and zucchini. The smell is so nice (warning!).

Add in the flour, baking soda and powder, cardamom and salt and mix to make a nice batter.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the batter 3/4 way to the top of the muffin liners.

Bake 23-26 minutes depending on the size of your muffin cups.

Make the icing:
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp milk

Whisk with a fork and pour on the muffins. While the icing is still wet, sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Let the icing harden and dig in.

These also freeze beautifully.

These taste as good as they look!