Easy Summer Zucchini Muffins

If there is any recipe that speaks summer to me, it’s one like this easy summer zucchini muffins recipe. They’re simple, a one-bowl recipe that comes together with minimal effort and clean-up but still manage to be light and delicate, with the sweetest hint of spice. And they are filled with summer’s bounty, fresh zucchini (preferably) from your garden. Though, the farmer’s market or grocery store is just as good, really.

They’re summer in a muffin cup. Which is wonderful and appropriate, of course, because we’re in the throes of summer as we speak, aren’t we?

Here in Texas, we’ve already hit triple digits. We’ve had sunburns, stayed up late, and complained about being bored.

And, beyond the “we” of it all, I’ll say that I, personally, have been on the struggle bus this summer.

There are a lot of reasons for this struggle. Some of which are my own fault, of course, and some are just the stage of life I’m in–the middle years of. These grey-space, in-between years where I’m not quite needed yet not quite not needed. These are not the easiest, I’ll tell you, and this fact has become glaringly apparent in these lazy days of summer.

When the kids were young, summer always intimidated me. I felt an enormous responsibility to entertain and engage, to have a calendar packed with fun events and things to do together. Schedules were created, and I did my very best to attack each day with something fun, something educational, and something interesting for my kids. In those days, the only minutes I had to myself were in the bathroom (and even then it was iffy) and I was stretched and pulled in a million different directions. Or, three, as the case may be. It was exhausting and I was spent at the end of every day.

But, that exhaustion, I would give my left arm to feel it again. To feel needed and engrossed every day. Because now life is eerily quiet yet oddly busy. The truth is that I could make plans and set up color-coded schedules with fun things to do, event after event, and my kids would just not want to do it with me. Unless, of course, their friends are involved.

Sure, I spend hours a day with them as their taxi driver. I’m up early to drive Dillon to cross country practice and pick him up a scant hour later, or to take Kenzie to and from gymnastics, sometimes twice a day, five times a week. And I am the official shuttle driver for Connor’s strength and conditioning camp four days a week. I’m available for all of the “mom, can you take me to my friend’s house?” and “Can we go to K-Life tonight?” (a Young Life-like group for teens).

But, teenage lives do not revolve around their parents. When they’re home, they’re upstairs in their rooms, FaceTiming their friends, playing on their XBoxes and Computers, or binge-watching some dumb kid do challenges on YouTube. I see them when they’re hungry or they’re running out the door to go here or there, “Mom, I’m going to the pool,” or “Mom, I’m going to John’s,” trailing behind them like dust.

I’m relegated to a supporting actor role in their lives right now, no longer a star.

And this, dear friends, is natural and normal. I remember being a teenager, pulling that phone cord so far and so tight around the corner of our tiny little house, shutting myself in my dad’s office so I could get just a few minutes of privacy while I talked about the most important and pressing part of my life–which almost never had anything to do with my parents or family. What I don’t remember is how this affected my mom, who like me, spent years being the sun, moon, and stars in my life only to be put in the backseat once I grew up.

Now I know.

It’s hard. There is no other way to describe it. I have a job and friends and a life of my own, advised from the very early days of motherhood to not allow my whole world to revolve around them for this very reason. Yet still, even with all of these things, this summer has been a struggle. A sort of inertia has overtaken my mind, an inability to do anything because everything I try to do, my old bag of tricks that worked without fail when my children were young, no longer works. This leaves me frozen, unable to spin new ideas that will light their fire and make them want to spend time with us again.

So I don’t. I am not a fun mom anymore.

Instead an accommodating one–letting them have their space to be in their rooms or at their friends’ pools (don’t think I’m still not bitter over our barren landscape of a backyard that no kid wants to enjoy. Because I am). I work and write and create. Moving on, yet somehow still longing for the days of exhaustion and giant double-seat Target shopping carts and the smell of baby Coppertone permeating my life.

I feel alone. A special type of loneliness that I don’t think you can understand until you walk through it, and I know this is just the beginning of something, the slow fade as these children who used to be my whole world move on and move along as they should. This is natural and a sign, I guess, that they’re not attached to us in an unhealthy way. But it still hits like a ton of bricks and leaves me breathless when I feel a gaping hole in my life, one I know I will eventually fill in a different, new way, but one that hurts nonetheless.

I keep going, though, and I try my best to find the silver lining in this new emptiness.

I look at Dillon and marvel at this newly minted 15-year old. I watch him diligently try to master driver’s ed and work his first job (as a door hanger for James At New View Roofing–gratuitous plug, use him for your roof replacement, he’s awesome). Connor’s depth and inquisitive nature continues to astound me, and I laugh to myself as he tells me “Mom, I’ve decided I want to be a scientist when I grow up,” as if I haven’t known for years that this is what his genius mind needs to do. And I enjoy every second with Kenzie, this dedicated little spark plug of a human who is carving her own unique path and showing signs of self-awareness and self-esteem I could only dream of as an 11-year-old girl.

I am a cheerleader and an admirer, a mom who shows up and tries to fit around the cracks where I can. Loving fiercely, I’m not needed as much but that’s okay. It doesn’t who I am or how I feel about them–I am their mother, simply put, and always will be.

So, moms who are in this grey space with me. I feel you and raise a glass of solidarity with you. If you feel alone and need a friend, I’m here for you, probably just hanging out on my couch. It’s a different time, one I’m trying to get used to as I’m sure you are, too. But you’re not alone. And it’s going to be okay. You’ve raised great humans who are finding their own way. It’s time for you to find yours too.

Also, I’m sorry Mom. I know what you felt like now. And I’m sorry.

Easy Summer Zucchini Muffins

There is almost nothing I love more than the abundance of fruits and veggies that come out of the garden in the summer. And, if you’ve ever had a garden or known anyone else who has, you know that one of the most prolific vegetables around is the humble zucchini. In fact, there’s an old gardener’s joke about it: Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for life. Teach a woman to garden and the entire neighborhood will have zucchini for the whole summer.

Sexist? Maybe. True? Definitely.

But sometimes you run out of ways to use this prolific vegetable, and that’s where these easy summer zucchini muffins come in. A spin-off from my Classic Zucchini Bread recipe, these little bites of heaven use the green monster in the best way possible. Deliciously sweet with just a hint of spice, they are the lightest muffins I have ever had.

They make a wonderful breakfast or a summer snack, and they’re easy and fun to make (only one bowl required). What I love the most, though, is that I feel like the best mom on Earth when my kids are chowing down on these little sweet snacks. Why? Because they’re vegetables (duh). Sure, they’re vegetables in baked goods, but they’re still vegetables and I feel like that’s a win.

So go ahead, make these little Easy Summer Zucchini Muffins. Enjoy them. Share them with your kids and get a major #momwin (or #dadwin, we don’t discriminate here). I promise they will love them, and you will too.

Peace, love, and Summer Sweets,

Meg

Easy Summer Zucchini Muffins

June 17, 2022

Servings: 12-14

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By: Meaghan Dawson

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 large)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup oil (vegetable or other neutral oil)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin with baking cups (or spray just the bottoms with oil)
• Step 2 In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all dry ingredients and whisk thoroughly.
• Step 3 Add all wet ingredients and beat at low speed for 1 minute.
• Step 4 Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat at medium for 2 minutes or until completely combined. Be careful not to overmix.
• Step 5 Using an ice cream scoop (or ladel) fill muffin tins 2/3 full.
• Step 6 Bake 20-25 minutes OR until browned on top and slightly springy to touch.
• Step 7 Cool before removing from pan, then cool completely on wire rack.

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