All good things must come to an end Club Chica Circle readers, and here we are at the end of a fabulous summer. Back to school time has arrived, and I’m here to bring you a healthy snack recipe for all those busy days ahead.

These next few weeks are a great time of year, when the weather still says “summer”, but your daily activities say “fall”. It’s time to make the most of the dwindling long days, and the bumper crop of fresh summer produce. Baking muffins reminds me of a cozy autumn afternoon, but the strawberry/zucchini combo in these muffins keeps the taste of summer alive.

They make a great breakfast on the go, or a filling after school snack.

First you need to sift together all your dry ingredients and set them aside.

Next, prepare your produce. You’re going to want to squeeze out as much excess water from your shredded zucchini as possible. I press mine between 2 layers of paper towels.

Make your batter and fill up the muffin cups.  Top each muffin with a crumbly and sweet streusel topping before baking. Streusel topping just screams “fall” doesn’t it?

Enjoy!

Thank you so much for having me these past few months. It’s been great posting here, and I hope you’ll all come visit me throughout the school year over at Betsylife.com for more great recipes the whole family will love.

Strawberry Zucchini Muffins

For the muffins

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup zucchini, grated

1 cup strawberries, diced

For the streusel

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons of cold butter cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cover zucchini with paper towels and press to remove excess moisture.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together milk, sour cream, oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients stirring until fully combined. Fold in zucchini and strawberries.

Prepare the streusel by combining all ingredients with a fork, cutting in the butter until the texture becomes crumbly.

Fill paper muffin cups 1/3 full with batter. Divide streusel topping evenly over each muffin. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack before serving.