A few months ago, I saw a recipe for fried squash blossoms as I perused the Web and immediately my mouth started salivating. Which is kind of funny seeing that I had never eaten, cooked or even heard of a squash blossom. But they looked gorgeous and everyone raved about how wonderful they tasted. I knew I had to get my hands on some.
It took me a while, but I finally tracked them down this past week at the farmer’s market in Coolidge Corner.
I asked folks on Twitter what I should do with them. Frying them seemed like a no-brainer. Others came up with some very creative ideas, like making quesadillas or using them as a topping for a pizza. I wish I had purchased more squash blossoms, because I would love to try all of these recipes.
There were a few factors that motivated me to bake these delightful squash blossom muffins, the recipe for which came from the fantastic blog, More Than A Mount Full. One thing that struck me about the recipe was its simplicity. Sure, there are a lot of ingredients… but they aren’t ones that are hard to find and I already had the majority of them in the fridge.
Another factor was that Eric and I were going over to our friends Pat and Nicole’s apartment to meet their beautiful newborn baby girl. We told them that we were happy to bring over food for brunch and I figured, if these muffins were as delicious as they looked on Dennis’ blog, that they’d be a hit. Sure enough, they were!
Zucchini Blossom Muffins
(from More Than A Mount Full, makes 12 regular sized muffins or 6 large muffins)
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cup of All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Marscapone or Cream Cheese
2 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Vanilla Bean, Scrape out the inside
1 Lime Zest(grated) and Juice
1 Lemon Zest(grated) only
6 Zucchini Flowers
Raw Sugar to sprinkle on tops of Muffins before baking
Directions
Mix all your dry ingredients together in one bowl.
Lightly beat the eggs and add in the Yogurt, oil, marscapone, vanilla, vanilla bean scrapings, zest from lime and lemon, and juice from the lime. mix all these ingredients until well blended.
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix just enough to blend.
This recipe is for large muffins but can be adapted to smaller pans, just use more blossoms. Add half of the mixture into each cup, and then add your zucchini blossom, then fill the remainder of the way with remaining mix.
Sprinkle tops with Raw Sugar and bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.
41 comments
This looks fantastic! I like squash blossoms fried or stuffed with ricotta!
Oh, you can't go wrong with anything that included Mascarpone Cheese! These are beautiful! And I know people always say that? But these truly are.
Hi Brian
they look great, and some beautiful images too!!
Thanks so much for trying out my recipe, and posting it to your blog, I really appreciate it!
I hope your friends enjoyed them and their uniqueness!
all the best
Dennis
What a great idea, and so pretty too! That looks like such an interesting combo of flavors too, those must have been delicious!
Lovely. I never made this but it is really beautiful!
Hey, squash blossom buddy! These look DELICIOUS! Pictures came out great, too! Absolutely, next time (because there will be a next time), try frying these babies.
Have a great week!
[K]
I was waiting for your next recipe and you did not disappoint me. I love squash blossom and this is a great way to use them. Beautiful pictures!
you did Chef D proud
I never would have thought of this!!! Hmm…. wonder how these would be if you did a savory version and did more of a cake to go with cheese and fruit??? That's what I love about food blogs – they constantly spark new ideas!!!
I've been having a hard time finding blossoms too. Either they are sold out or they don't have them at the farmers market. These muffins looks delicious and as always your pictures are beautiful.
MMnn!!! . . . I loves me some squash (in any form), especially when it's played on a court (or cooked in a muffin tin)
Squash (el deporte, no la vegetal) es el juego de los reyes y el rey de los juegos. . . y la verdura es apto para una mesa real también.
Wonderful that you were able to find the squash blossoms and the muffins sound absolutely scrumptious!
Squash blossoms are so beautiful, and I never thought to do muffins with them!
I was so upset when I missed these at the Farmer's Market. I never heard of them in muffins usually fried which I hate becuase it's too fatty. Thanks!
Don't you love bringing food to friends and family? Especially when your visit is in celebration of a new life? I saw this on Chef Dennis' blog and I'm so glad they turned out well for you. They look delicious my friend! Now let's just get on making things like this TOGETHER.
Beautiful photos! I still haven't had the pleasure of the blossoms yet…
Great blog!
Wow! I've never seen squash flowers done this way, I love the taste of these little morsels but only if the batter is really really light (so unless I do them myself, I rarely choose these on a menu); but…, I can really taste the delicate flavours in my mind as muffins, so just might give this a go. Cheers Anna.
I've never had squash blossoms before, but all the posts I've seen recently are making me very curious. Your muffins look beautiful.
Mmmm, I love squash blossoms, but never thought of making muffins with them!! Ingenious
The muffins sound lovely! I've put squash blossoms in a fritata–that was nice as well!
Oh, fantastic! Lightly fried squash blossoms are lovely, but in a muffin, even better. Gorgeous!
I'm so glad you made these as well, Brian! I had some blossoms myself recently, but decided to stuff them and tempura them. Next time I get my hands on some (which could be quite soon!) I'll have to borrow Dennis' recipe too! Lovely stuff.
Jax x
How unique are these muffins! Wish I could find some squash blossom here…your muffins look terrific!
My father is absolutely obsessed with squash blossoms. Funny because I don't think he had ever had them before a year ago when we went out to dinner at a super nice restaurant in Boston for my graduation.
I saw these muffins on Dennis's site and fell in love! They are so cute!
How interesting! I saw zucchini flowers at a local produce market the other day, but as I was entering the store, someone just bought out the whole box of them so there were no more left for me…
I was gonna say that I don't think I've ever seen zucchini flour, but I think you mean flowers, right?
Kitchen M- HA! Thanks for catching that!
Now, that's a novel use of squash blossoms. And they look so pretty peaking out of the top of the muffins like that.
Every time I think of squash blossoms, I just think of stuffing them and frying them. I've never even considered baking them in a muffin. This is such a neat idea!
These look elegant and delicious. I'm having a bit of a love affair with squash blossoms this summer. Thanks for sharing.
How do you take such beautiful photos? I think you need to have a class or something. . .
I have only eaten breaded and stuffed squash blossoms, and I love the creativity in this recipe.
Now I am totally intrigued. This is something I've never tried before, but after your glowing review, I'm going to have to go hunt down some squash blossoms!
Nom! I always want to eat Dennis' food, but you actually got to! I can't seem to find squash blossoms anywhere. Do you think these would be good w/o the blossoms? They look pretty moist.
I have heard of them fried before but never in a muffin. Gorgeous!
I have never seen squash blossoms baked into muffins before. They looks exquisite!
I I love using unconventional stuff in muffins and pastries! I though squash blossoms were overrated, but these look like you stole them from martha stewart (thats a compliment!).
God – I am afraid of baking but these look so good I might need to take the plunge! Great pictures too.
This is definitely the most original idea to date! I can imagine these muffins are super tasty with the added elegance of the blossoms.
They look perfect,I remember the recipe that Dennis posted…and you have done an amazing job with these. I am in the process of a squash blossom dish, and funny I was going to mention Dennis too (his addiction to them actually). These are gorgeous and I am sure you friends were more than delighted:)
LOVE Dennis and his recipes! Just came across your blog today!! Love your photos, they are truly magazine quality.
How interesting to make muffins with squash blossoms. I never would have thought of that idea. Also i am totally loving chef dennis's blog too. Very happy to have stumblrd on yours. Very interesting and beautiful….
Interesting recipe! I definitely want to give it a try
Sounds yummy!