Zucchini Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes

After the Zucchini Lime Cake went over so well and I came home from Mom and Dad’s house with a zucchini the size of a baseball bat (only fatter), I thought I might try a lemon version of that cake … but with poppy seeds because lemon and poppy seeds are just sooo yummy togehter. I also wanted to make it in cupcake form because my daughter really really loves cupcakes.

Anyway, I decided to take a short break from work and whip up some cupcakes right before my girl came home from school. And she just happened to come home that day with this book about cupcakes that she checked out from the library. So it was quite serendipitous that I happened to be baking cupcakes. She really wants to try some of these cupcake recipes out of the book. I am supposed to choose which one we will make. Maybe I need to just buy her that book so we can try them all. The cupcakes finished up just as we were supposed to head out the door for dance, so I grabbed one of the smaller cupcake pans and brought it along and she ate two of them on the way. The rest of the six I fed to my yoga friends, right out of the cupcake pan, at the bar we go to after yoga for a glass of wine.

Most of these cupcakes we ate unfrosted, but I did make a lemon cream cheese frosting to go on some of them. Do you want the recipe for the frosting? It’s just light cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice. You can add lemon zest if you like to intensify the lemon taste.

Zucchini Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes

You could also bake these as a cake in a 13x9x2 inch pan or two rounds or … well, whatever you like. Just add more cooking time for a cake.

• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup lowfat or nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 – 4 teaspoons poppy seeds (I used two and my daughter and I both agreed they could use more poppy seeds)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, mix the wet ingredients, then stir in the dry ingredients.
2. Spray your cupcake pans with cooking spray or use cupcake liners and fill each cupcake about 2/3 full.
3. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Frost them if you like with lemon cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with poppy seeds (and lemon slices if you want to be extra fancy).

This recipe was shared at Cast Party Wednesday, Thursday’s Treasures, Fit & Fabulous Friday, Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friends Friday, Lunch Box Linky and Share it Saturday.