My New Roots - Zucchini Firecracker Corn Bread

My wife and I were planning to sign up for a CSA for the first time this year but unfortunately missed our window and the CSA we were interested in sold out.  Instead, we opted to sign up for "CSA-like" deal through our local Whole Foods to receive a bag of local produce each week.  Our first week of produce resulted in a combined five pounds of summer squash/zucchini and as a result I'll be focusing on these ingredients for a little while now.

I kicked the week off by baking some this recipe with the plan to spread it across the week as a nice snack/side to go with meals.  Due to my lack of a cast iron skillet and being not quite sure which pan to substitute, I opted to make corn muffins instead.

These things turned out great and are extremely delicious.  I opted to go for the milder side of flavor and only use the 1 Tbsp of red pepper flakes to suite my wife's preferences.  As a result, these had almost no kick to them.  If you're looking for some spicy kick, I'd recommend going for the full 2 Tbsp.  The other recommendation I'd make is to make sure you give them plenty of time to cool on their own.  I was a bit hasty in bundling these off for storage on my first batch and as a result had a hard time keeping moisture out of the bag these were stored in.

With the first batch I made, I made the critical mistake of waiting too long to whisk in the melted coconut oil resulting in it solidifying on me.  With the second batch (pictured below) they turned out much better.

I must also offer an extreme caution with regards to handling the pan.  The recipe calls for heating the pan prior to greasing it.  On my second batch I made the critical mistake of grabbing the pan while I greased it and suffered some rather nasty burns as a result.