One Zucchini, Two Zucchini, Three Zucchini, Four...

It's time to think about ways to use that fabulous overabundance of zucchini~or courgette, depending on where you live. My Dad has some growing in his garden so he gave me three...including one mutant zucchini that was hiding out until it was nearly 2 feet long!

I liked the idea of chocolate zucchini bread, so I made this recipe on Sunday for our after dinner dessert.

My husband, who was wary of the idea of zucchini in bread (he's Scottish, what can I say?) ate a slice and then had a few more. The baby was bedecked from head to toe in joyous chocolate crumbs. It is like a wonderful cross between chocolate cake and brownies.

We decided to give the second loaf away before things got out of hand. Hopefully our neighbors enjoyed it as much as we did!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 heaping cups peeled and grated zucchini (about 1 medium)
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

~Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
~Grease and flour two 8x4x3 loaf pans. (I also line the bottom of mine with parchment paper to make sure they come out in one piece.)
~In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla.
~Stir in the zucchini.
~Combine the dry ingredients and stir into the zucchini mixture. Mix until just combined.
~Fold in chocolate chips if using.
~Pour into prepared pans.
~Bake for 1 hour or until bread tests done. Let bread sit in pans to cool for 5 minutes, run a knife around the edges and carefully turn out the loaves onto a cooling rack.
~If you used parchment paper, peel it off gently (but do it while they're hot)
~Let loaves cool completely before wrapping or slicing.

Makes 2 loaves

Cookie Du Jour

This is my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe. Hands down. They are like little bites of heaven! I've even replaced half the butter with applesauce and they were still fantastic. Just look at that face...would she lie to you? :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature*
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy.
~Blend in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract.
~In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
~Mix flour mixture into butter-sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
~Drop tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
~Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until golden around the edges.
~Remove warm cookies and transfer to racks.

*To make the cookies a little more healthy, replace 1/2 cup of the butter with 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce and follow the rest of the directions.

Choco Choco Chocolate...and Banana

The last few weeks we've been trying to use what we've got in our house instead of running to the store every time we need something. It's time for us to be more self-sufficient! (I need a better depression era housewife/Rosie the Riveter "WE CAN DO IT!" attitude adjustment.)

The long and short of it is this: I needed to use up bananas that were sitting in our freezer, and I had to do it with ingredients we had on hand. I settled on~and this is a mouthful~Chocolate Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Banana Muffins.

They happened to be on an OAMC list (Once a Month Cooking) and I thought we could freeze them for quick treats. Problem is, I was just putting the pans in the oven when my sister dropped by, and by the time she left we had already eaten a dozen! Really, these are hands down one of the tastiest things EVER. And don't be daunted by the extra long title. They are really easy to make.

Now you wish you had some over-ripe bananas, don't you? Or maybe you just wish you were here and could eat mine.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Banana Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 extra ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
-Use a little butter or pan spray to lightly grease the tops of two 12 cup muffin tins (to keep muffins from sticking in case they rise over the top) and line them with cupcake papers.
-In a large bowl cream together the butter, applesauce, sugar and vanilla.
-Add the eggs and mix.
-Add dry ingredients and mix well.
-Stir in the mashed bananas and sour cream, and then the chocolate chips.
-Scoop the batter into the muffin cups using an ice cream scooper.
-Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
-Cool slightly and remove from pans to cooling racks.
-To freeze, cool and put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen, then put in plastic bags to store.

Makes about 24 muffins (depending on how full you fill your muffin cups)

To A Healthy New Year

I am currently trying to revise my eating plan for the new year, so I thought I'd throw out one of my healthier cookie recipes for you to try. It's (supposedly) the recipe for those oh-so-tasty Great Harvest Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies, and while it might not be the real one it tastes very similar. It also may not be low in calories, but it is made from more high quality healthy ingredients than the average cookie, which I think is important when deciding what to put into your body. And chocolate should always rank somewhere high on your important things to eat list. Antioxidants, people! :D

Harvest Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour (I use Great Montana or King Arthur...try to use a good quality flour, it's worth it)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats, divided in half
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 11.5 ounce bag chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
-Take one cup of the oats and grind in a blender or food processor until it is the consistency of coarse flour. Set aside.
-Cream together the brown sugar and butter until well combined.
-Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir molasses, milk and vanilla into the butter and sugar mixture and beat well.
-Add the ground and rolled oats to the butter mixture and mix well.
-Add the flour mixture and mix until it is completely combined.
-Stir in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
-Using a 1/4 cup scoop (about the size of a regular ice cream scoop) or measuring cup, scoop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets 3 inches apart.
-Bake for 12 to 13 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown.
-Remove from oven and cool two minutes on the cookie sheets. Remove from sheets and cool completely on racks.

Makes 22-24 giant cookies.

The Exalted Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

I didn't want to wait too long before I posted this recipe, because Ray says it's the best cookie recipe I've ever made. Speaking of which, I will be off to bake a batch in oh, say...5 minutes? Ray is having a bad week at work doing two jobs while a co-worker is on vacation. Poor thing.

I must admit, I was skeptical that this recipe could be anything more than just another cookie recipe because I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter cookies in the first place. But add chocolate chips to them and they become a whole different animal. Then add some peanut butter chips in addition to all that and they become something altogether criminal. And I mean that in a good way.

Peanut Butter Double Chip Cookies
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter flavor shortening (I use 1/4 cup real butter* and 1/4 cup plain shortening)
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla (not a typo!)
1 and 3/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-In a large bowl cream together the peanut butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy.
-Beat in the egg until fluffy and then beat in the milk and vanilla.
-In a seperate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir this into the peanut butter mixture until just combined.
-Stir in peanut butter and chocolate chips until they are distributed evenly throughout the dough.
-Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet a few inches apart.
-Bake 7-9 minutes until the edges just begin to brown. (Tablespoon size cookies will take about 10-12 minutes. Make sure you watch for brown edges so they don't burn.) Remove pan from oven and let sit on the pan for a couple of minutes to set up before putting on cooling racks.

Makes about 2 dozen.

*You can use all butter if you like, but you will need to refrigerate your dough for at least a half hour before baking to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
*The key to soft and chewy cookies is they should look just underdone when you take them out of the oven. This is why you let them sit on the hot pan, because it helps them finish baking without too much heat.

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Tips and Tricks From The Kitchen McMitchell...

Why use shortening in baking?
Shortening melts at a higher temperature than butter, so cookie dough holds its shape longer in the oven, allowing the flour and eggs to set before the cookie collapses and spreads. Using butter or margarine (which has a melting point only a degree or two above butter and a higher water content) produces a cookie that spreads out more. Vegetable shortening is ideal for pastry, too, since it blends easily with flour.

If your cookies are ending up flat...
First, try refrigerating your dough. This will help harden the fat you used in your recipe and will give the cookie a chance to bake before the fat melts.
Second, try adding a little extra flour to your recipe. Just a couple of tablespoons (especially at high altitudes) might be enough to help your cookies hold their shape.
Third, test your baking soda/baking powder to make sure it's still working as a leavening agent.