I wouldn't alter it at all....I have made muffins out of quick breads many times.
Linda C

Think of muffins as mini versions of quick bread loaves, so using your quick bread recipe for muffins usually works well. Knowing that, you can also use muffin recipes for loaves.

The type of fat and how it's mixed into quick breads helps determin the crumb. If the shortening is melted in the recipe, then substituting the melted shortening with liquid vegetable oil works well in equal amounts without altering the liquid. This is the traditional muffin technique.

If the solid fat is creamed with the sugar, then you are using a cake technique and will expect a cake-like, close crumb. In this case, you won't get the same result by utilizing a liquid vegetable oil as a substitute. You can't get the airy-quality to the fat/sugar mixture if you substitute a liquid fat.

As with all quick breads and muffins, keep mixing to a bare minimum so that you don't over-develop the gluten in the flour. If you find air tunnels in your finished product, then you are over-mixing the batter.

The higher the fat content, the richer the taste and the softer the crumb.

"Quick breads", as a category, include loaves, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, scones, popovers and are generally leavened with a chemical leavener.

You might enjoy the link below for more information.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Baking 911 - Quick breads

I've done that with banana nut bread/muffins. I used the same recipe and didn't change ANYTHING.

A tin of muffins does NOT take an hour to bake as would a loaf. Ask me how I know! :o)

I also bake muffin batter and quick bread batter interchangeably in loaves, muffin tins, those little mini tins, sometimes just an 8 inch square pan, depending on what is clean, what I'm baking and who is going to consume it. Oh, and whether I have to transport it and which container has its own lid, LOL.

If you sub oil for shortening you will get a detectable difference in texture, as Grainlady mentioned. Whether or not that's an acceptable difference is a personal opinion, so if you don't care, go ahead. I sometimes like the texture change better, depending on the recipe!

Annie

I thought it would be okay also. There's a lot of zucchini bread recipes but not very many zuchinni muffin recipes. I find muffins just easier to prepare, bake, and eat. They're already in individual servings.
As for the oil, I wondered if it would make the batter "runnier" and keep the muffins from rising as much. I don't like flat muffins!:)
Thanks Beth

Beth/eden - The rise comes from the chemical leavening. Using baking powder (as the chemical leavener), it reacts once when the liquid ingredients are added, and again when the batter hits the heat of the oven (hence, double-acting baking powder). There's generally not enough fat, or too much fat, in quick breads to alter the rise. Even that awful recipe for pumpkin bread that sweats cooking oil my MIL was famous for (gag me LOL)!

Please note, IF in the original recipe the shortening was melted, it works in the recipe just like vegetable oil will because both are in a liquid form. Melted butter or margarine can also be substituted.

To repeat what I posted above, the only time it might affect the rise is when you have a recipe that uses the cake-method (the second method for mixing quick breads) where the solid fat is blended with the sugar. If oil were to be substituted, it does NOT aerate like solid fat. Therefore, you wouldn't incorporate as much air into the batter. Another addition that gives the bread rise is if you have a recipe that incorporates beaten egg whites. They will also affect the rise.

Fat contributes to tenderness and helps breads stay fresh longer. Butter, margarine, vegetable oil, and shortening are all used to prepare quick bread batters. Butter also contributes flavor and richness.

-Grainlady