Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Thyme for Cooking Blog which is all about the food, and life in France.  I wish, wish, wish I had more time to spend poring through this lovely blog.  I want to know about restoring a French farmhouse, and I want to know how Katie, who started in Minnesota and Wisconsin, managed to end up in France - with a few other interesting stops along the way.  We lived in Wisconsin for 15 years, but I do not think there's any chance we'll be ending up in France.  I will most definitely be reading through Katie's posts more thoroughly whenever I find the time!  I love how all her posts include not only the recipe but also an interesting story about what is going on in her life.

For now, I'm glad she loves healthy food, healthy ingredients, and most of all Simple Recipes.  Of course, simple (but tasty) recipes are a big favorite of mine, but this month I really needed something simple.  I spent a week cooking dinners for approximately 90 people at Camp Outreach, and the weeks prior to that were spent planning, shopping, and cooking chicken and taco meat in advance.  If only I could have used a recipe from Thyme for Cooking Blog for camp...   That would have been awesome!  So, Katie, when you read this, feel free to point me to any of your recipes that may have been great camp fare.  There's always next year.  Maybe.

This Italian Beef and Cabbage might have been good.  I am definitely going to try that soon.  Chicken with Red Beets and Cabbage is on my 'to make' list too, along with Beef, Cabbage, and Feta on Barley.  I seem to see a cabbage theme here.

In the end I picked this Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, because chocolate.  And not only chocolate, but double chocolate.  And also zucchini, and it's one of those simple recipes which I thought would be perfect to share, because, with the slightly longer 4th of July weekend, we decided to go visit my parents, and I always try to take something so Mom doesn't have to fix all the food.  This Apple Bread was also a possibility, but the chocolate won out.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
from Thyme for Cooking Blog

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 6-8 oz. chocolate, chopped (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Butter 2 large loaf pans, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
3. Combine butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla in a large bowl and mix well.  Stir in zucchini.
4. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together; stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir gently to combine.
5. Add chocolate chunks and walnuts and stir just until combined. 
6. Divide batter between prepared loaf pans.
7. Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before slicing.

This recipe is a definite keeper.  Deep, dark chocolatey, chunky and super moist.  The first words that came to mind when I bit into my first piece were, "Oh, Baby."  It is so good.  I stored it in the refrigerator because of the moistness, and I think that made it even better.  The two loaves did not last long when I put them out to be shared.  It really was hard to resist grabbing just one more piece.  And it didn't look like anyone was actually trying to resist.

Thanks for the recipe, Katie.  I will be making this again.  And again.  I see why you make it often.

An InLinkz Link-up

Southwest Zucchini Patties

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is pizza rossa, a lovely blog written by Rachael.  Rachel has lived in Switzerland since 2001, and she and her husband have been vegetarians for many years.  She loves sharing delicious and healthy recipes, along with some decadent sweet treats, and encouraging people to try something new.

Looking through Rachael's blog, I found several recipes I really want to try. Tuscan Style Roasted Vegetables, Spinach & Zucchini Pie, and Potato and Spinach Waffles are just a few that caught my eye.

But I eventually decided on these zucchini patties.  They just sounded so good. (Mine got a little extra browned, so the picture does not do it justice, but trust me, these are good.)

Southwest Zucchini Patties
adapted from pizza rossa

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. zucchini, 1 medium or 2-3 small
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 can (15 oz) can kidney beans
• 2 green onions, minced
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• about 1 cup dry breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Grate the zucchini on a box grater and spread over a couple of sheets of paper towels; top with more paper towels and put a heavy cutting board on top. 
2. Rinse and drain the corn and kidney beans in separate strainers.
3. Lightly beat the eggs in a mixing bowl.  Add kidney beans and roughly mash with the back of a fork or a potato masher. Mix in corn, zucchini, minced onions, and cilantro.  Add cumin, cayenne, salt & pepper.
4. Stir in enough breadcrumbs so the mixture becomes quite stiff.  Use damp hands to shape the mixture into patties.
5. Heat about two tablespoons of oil in a skillet and cook the patties until well browned on both sides, 4 – 5 minutes per side.

Makes about a dozen large patties or 20 small ones

These smelled so good as soon as I mixed the ingredients together.  And then, when they were cooking - even better.  I added the cilantro and cut the cayenne down because my husband does not like things too spicy.  Other than that, I pretty much stuck with Rachael's recipe - except I just wrote 'bread crumbs' when I copied the recipe instead of dry bread crumbs, so I ended up using more bread crumbs than the recipe called for, and the mixture never did get very stiff.  So next time I'll be sure to make sure my bread crumbs are nice and dry and see if that makes any difference.  It still formed nice enough patties that cooked up really well.  I cooked them for 5 minutes on the first side without disturbing them, just to be sure they held together, which is why mine ended up a bit over-browned. 

Rachael served hers with some gorgeous pico de gallo, which would have been great, but we just topped them with salsa and sour cream  So good!  I wasn't sure how my husband would respond to having these for dinner and no meat (Gasp!), so I made some Spicy Avocado Chicken too, as an alternative option.  He ate some of both, and then went back for two more of these patties.  I'd say that's a win.

The leftovers heat up really nicely, and I have eaten a few of them cold too.  They're pretty much good however you eat them, and I'll definitely be making these again.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

I've made this pizza several times now.  It's really good and simple to make.  I've never had Papa Murphy's Thai Chicken Delite pizza, so I can't say for sure it's the same.  But it was the inspiration.

Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

• pizza dough 
• sweet chili sauce
• grilled chicken
• chopped onions
• sliced green onions
• thinly sliced zucchini
• Mozzarella cheese
• Cheddar cheese 

Directions:

1. Roll/press pizza dough out to form crust for one pizza; prick with fork and bake at 450° for 5-7 minutes..
2. Remove crust from oven.  Spread sauce over crust and top with toppings.  Sprinkle with crushed red chili flakes if desired.
3. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese melted.
4. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before cutting.  Top with sliced fresh basil if desired.

I have no measurements because it's pizza, and you just put toppings on until it looks right to you. There's no right or wrong way.  I do think it's better if you slice the zucchini really thin, but it's OK if you don't too.  I seasoned my chicken with a little salt, pepper, and ground ginger when I grilled it (in my George Foreman), which was pretty good on this pizza, too.

Now I just need to make some more of that sweet chili sauce.

Italian Beef and Zucchini Stir Fry

I'm not sure where I originally found this recipe.  I cut it out of a magazine or something, and it's been in my recipe collection for ages.  Here's a copy of the original recipe I found over on Food.com.

Of course, I didn't follow the recipe, exactly, but I think that's part of the appeal of a recipe like this - you can substitute the ingredients you have on hand.  I didn't have any cherry tomatoes, but I did have one Roma - and a red pepper for some color.  I also added some sliced onion, because everything needs onions!

Italian Beef and Zucchini Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 8 oz. thinly sliced beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 a medium onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 small to medium zucchini, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup Italian dressing
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
2. While spaghetti is cooking, heat oil in skillet; add beef and stir fry until partially cooked, 2-3 minutes.  Add garlic, onion, and bell pepper and stir fry another couple minutes before adding zucchini.
3. When zucchini is crisp tender, season with salt and pepper and then add Italian dressing and diced tomato.  Heat through.
4. When spaghetti is cooked, add a ladle of the cooking water to skillet and set aside a little more (1/2 cup to a cup)  Drain spaghetti and add it to the skillet; mix it in and heat for a couple minutes to let everything combine.
5. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

I used whole wheat spaghetti, which was just perfect in this, but you can use regular spaghetti too.  A green bell pepper will work in this, too if that's what you have.  It's a simple recipe with a lot of flavor, and you can adjust it to suit your tastes or to use the items you have in your kitchen.

Even the leftovers are good!  This is where the reserved pasta sauce comes in - add it to your leftovers before refrigerating them.  Pasta tends to soak up extra moisture.  If you don't add the pasta water now, you will find you need to add water when you reheat, so you might as well use the good pasta water.

I've heard that there are people who won't eat leftovers, but if you liked it the first time, wouldn't you like it a couple days later?  Sometimes it's even better reheated because the flavors have had time to blend and improve.  But that's another topic.  Just try this recipe.  You'll like it.  Oh, and if you have lots of zucchini you're trying to figure out what to do with, try this first and then pass the rest to me.  I actually had to buy the zucchini I used in this recipe because I don't have a garden again this year, which makes me very sad.   Hard to believe when I was growing up I said I didn't want to have a garden when I grew up!

Related articles

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• 10 Delicious Ways to Use All That Summer Zucchini
• Beef & Noodles With Fresh Vegetables Recipe

Zesty Zucchini Skillet

My mom gave me this recipe several years ago. It's quick, easy, and really good.

Zesty Zucchini Skillet

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup salsa or picante sauce
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• grated cheese

Directions:

1. Saute zucchini, onion, and garlic in oil for 2 minutes in large skillet.  Add seasonings, stir in salsa; cook and stir for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender.  Add tomato, cook for 1-2 minutes or until heated through.  
2. Remove from heat; sprinkle with cheese.  (no amount given, and I never measure, so use your own judgement)
3. Optional ingredients: sliced black olives and/or cooked rice stirred in with the tomato.

Makes 4 hearty servings

This makes a great quick summer meal - when there are plenty of zucchini coming out of the garden.  Since I didn't have a garden this summer, I didn't have much zucchini, but I bought a couple from a farm stand, and I used one of them to make this.  It's so good!

Featured on Cook Lisa Cook March 2014

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

It's time again for  Secret Recipe Club (Secret Recipe Club) reveal!  My blog assignment this month was Melissa's blog I Was born To cook.  Born and raised in northern New Jersey, Melissa has always loved to cook, and she shares some great recipes on her blog.  Her Black Bean Quinoa Salad and Turkey Barley Veggie Soup look really good.  When the weather cools down a bit, I am making that soup!

Eventually I decided on these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins for my Secret Recipe Club post.  I wasn't able to have a garden this year, so I don't have any fresh zucchini, but thankfully I still have some in my freezer!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
adapted from I Was Born to Cook

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 banana)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 3 cups flour (part whole wheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease or line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in sugars and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini, and oatmeal and stir well.
3. Stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom together. Mix into wet ingredients, just until moist.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, filling 2/3 of the way. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Store loosely covered.

Makes 12

I cut the sugar down significantly in these muffins, because my Chocolate Zucchini Cake recipe calls for less sugar, and it's a cake.  I also used whole wheat flour - 1 cup regular whole wheat and 1 cup white whole wheat - and added 1/2 cup oatmeal, because I like my muffins to be dense and filling.  These definitely were!  They needed just a touch of butter, and they were delicious!  They don't look nearly as chocolatey as Melissa's, but they were chocolate; trust me.  And the spices were perfect.

Melissa was hoping she could get some vegetables into her daughter Bella with these chocolate muffins - but Bella would have none of it, even though she's a chocolate lover.  I had no problems with my adorable grandson Jason.  He loved these!  Of course, he loves green stuff, too, like green beans and peas.

YUMMY!

An InLinkz Link-up

Pasta Salad

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law several years ago. Like she said - it's really good! Especially for a cool summer meal.

(Yes, I know that it's already Fall, but I've been putting off the posting of this recipe - just bookmark it and save it for next summer.)

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 5-6 cups cooked pasta
• 2 medium carrots, sliced or shredded
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions
• 1/2 white onion, sliced in quarters
• 1 tomato, cubed
• 2 bunches broccoli cut up small (2 cups)
• 1/2 can sliced olives
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2/3 cup salad dressing (Italian)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients, chill, and serve.

While it's best with fresh vegetables, I have used canned tomatoes and frozen broccoli in this, and it turns out just fine.  I always use Italian salad dressing, but it could be made with whatever kind you like, perhaps Ranch - whatever you like.  It makes a lot, so I usually have to store it in a 4-quart or 5-quart ice cream bucket because I don't have any other containers big enough.  Love those ice cream buckets for everything!
 

Vegetable Oven Pancake

I posted a recipe a while back for a Puffed Oven Pancake we really liked.  I served it with fried apples and thought of it as breakfast or dessert or 'breakfast for dinner'.  It never occurred to me to try vegetables or that it could be a main dish - until I saw this recipe, and then I just had to try it.  We had this for dinner one night last week.

Vegetable Oven Pancake

Ingredients:

• 2 T butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Place butter in a 9-in. pie plate or cast iron skillet; heat in a 450° oven until melted. Carefully tilt pan to coat bottom and sides. In a large bowl, beat the flour, eggs, milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth. Pour into pie plate. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until puffed around the edges and golden brown.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the broccoli, green pepper, tomato and onion in water for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain well. Add pepper and remaining salt.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over pancake; top with vegetables and remaining cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Cut into four wedges; serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

recipe from Taste of Home

Of course, this is just the basic recipe.  The lady who submitted the recipe to Taste of Home said that they like to vary the vegetables depending on what's in season, so...

I used 1/2 a medium onion, 1 green pepper, 2 cups chopped zucchini, 2 handfuls chopped chard, and 3 Roma tomatoes - all things chopped, whether I said so or not.  Everything but the onion came straight out of my garden!  Instead of cooking the vegetables in water, I sauteed everything in a little olive oil starting with the onion and pepper, and then adding the zucchini and chard and finally the tomatoes when everything else was mostly cooked.

4 servings?  Really?  Jeffrey and I ate the whole thing ourselves.  We really liked it.  I thought maybe it had too much cheese, but Jeffrey thought it was just right.  Next time I want to add a touch more salt to the vegetables, and even though it says to cut into wedges and serve immediately, I think it needs to sit for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven, so the cheese can set up a bit.  Other than that - perfect!  I will definitely be making this again.
 

Related articles

• Puffed Oven Pancake (recipes.alwaysbcmom.com)
• What in the world do I do with these... (awinsomejourney.wordpress.com)

Using My Garden Produce

I had some beautiful red peppers from my garden this year. Adding them to my zucchini was not only yummy, but pretty, too!

• Saute sliced onion and sliced red pepper in olive oil. 
• Add sliced zucchini and cook until done.  
• Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

The next day I was looking for something for lunch, had a bit of the zucchini left, some roast beef that needed used, and some chard from the garden...


With the leftovers:

• Cook sliced chard (7 leaves or so) in olive oil until done.  Season with salt and pepper. 
• Slice roast beef and add to skillet; heat through. 
• Add zucchini mixture and cook until heated, stirring frequently. 
• Sprinkle with feta cheese.

Yum! 

I tried making the zucchini, chard and roast beef for dinner one night by slicing uncooked beef and cooking that in olive oil with the onion and pepper then adding the zucchini and chard - but I didn't like it as well.  The peppers and onions didn't cook the same way or something.

I've still got chard in the garden, but everything else is finished, so I'll have to wait until next summer to make this again.  Posting this now so I don't forget!

Zucchini Hamburger Pie

We had this for dinner tonight. Since I have zucchini from the garden and tomatoes from the garden, it's only right to use them. This has a really nice flavor.

Zucchini Hamburger Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg; lightly beaten
• Single pastry crust
• 4 cups sliced zucchini; divided
• 2 medium tomatoes; thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Brown meat with onions, salt and garlic salt; drain. Stir in green pepper, oregano, parsley, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and egg until well mixed; set aside.
2. Spread 2 cups zucchini in pie pan or casserole dish; cover with meat mixture. Top with tomato slices and rest of zucchini. Cover with pie crust, cutting steam vents.
3. Put into preheated 350° oven and bake 1 hour or until crust is lightly browned.

The original recipe called for a double pastry crust, but there seems to be too much liquid in the filling so that the bottom crust turns out soggy. It is better with just the top crust.

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this post has been edited to add a picture! (especially for Tisha)

Ratatouille

I've got lots of zucchini and peppers from the garden, and I bought some eggplant from the Farmers' Market this week so I could make this. And it is so good.

Ratatouille

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium eggplant, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 large green pepper, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 3 medium zucchini, cut in 1-inch-thick slices
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 T salt
• 2 t. oregano leaves
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 can diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. In 6-quart Dutch oven or saucepot over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in hot olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add eggplant and the green pepper; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Stir in zucchini, water, salt, oregano and sugar; heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10 minutes.
4. Stir in tomatoes and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.  Serve hot or follow step 5.
5. Cover vegetable mixture and refrigerate to serve cold later.

The original recipe actually said to cut the garlic clove in half and then discard it prior to adding the eggplant and green pepper.  Not a chance.  I just minced it and left it in.  Also, I used one large zucchini and substituted the can of diced tomatoes for the 2 fresh tomatoes (cut in wedges and added at the very end) called for in the original recipe.  My tomatoes are just now starting to ripen, so I didn't have any to use yet.

I let this cool down to refrigerate for tomorrow.  I'm trying to decide whether I should heat it back up or serve it cold.  I couldn't help myself and ate some when it was lukewarm, and that seemed like the perfect temperature.  What do you think - hot or cold?

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• Ratatouille "the recipe, not the movie" (teachstreet.com)
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Zucchini Casserole

I've got the zucchini coming out of the garden pretty steadily now, so for dinner I decided it had to be something with zucchini. This recipe sounded good, so I sort of followed it. Basically, I just layered zucchini, onion, peppers, tomato slices, and seasonings - and I added some chicken for the meat eaters in the family, hoping it would make them happy. The recipe did not say anything about covering the dish while baking, so I didn't. I really should have because, even though I baked it for an entire hour, it was not as done as I would have liked. Also, I think it needs salt and pepper sprinkled throughout the layers instead of just on top.

So, next time I'm doing it like this:

Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

• Sliced zucchini - 2 small, 1 medium, whatever you have
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced - more or less
• 1 or 2 tomatoes, sliced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
• basil and oregano, about 1/4 tsp. each - I used several leaves of fresh basil
• Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup or so shredded Cheddar

Directions:
Grease a 2-quart casserole. Arrange zucchini slices in casserole. Top with onion slices and green pepper slices; sprinkle with salt & pepper. Top with tomato slices, then sprinkle with herbs and Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes; uncover, sprinkle with cheddar cheese, and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and vegetables are tender. Serves 6.

Optional: Season a boneless, skinless chicken breast or two with garlic powder and oregano. Grill or broil until done - I used the George Foreman grill for 3 minutes on each side. When chicken is cooked, slice and add to casserole between the green peppers and the tomato slices.

Because this wasn't cooked as much as it should have been, it wasn't as good as I believe it will be - when I do it my way. I still enjoyed it, and my leftovers for lunch tomorrow will be better, because they'll be cooked a little more when I reheat them.

Roasted Zucchini

I must try this! As seen on The View:

Roasted Zucchini

• 4 medium-large zucchini
• extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Begin by slicing the zucchini into medium-thick discs. Lay out on a roasting sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly caramelized and just tender

Time: 25 minutes; Yield: serves 2-3.

He threw some onions on, too on the show. I'm definitely going with the onions.

Pineapple Zucchini Cake

When I was growing up, there were two zucchini cakes we had, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, and this one - Pineapple Zucchini Cake. I was going to say there were two zucchini cakes my mom made, but I made them a lot, too. I consider them my mom's recipes, though I don't know where she got them. They are both so good I can't decide which one is my favorite.

Pineapple Zucchini Cake
Ingredients:
3 eggs 2 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup vegetable oil 2 c. zucchini, grated	3 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 c. crushed pineapple, drained
Directions: Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil until fluffy. Add zucchini. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to batter and mix well. Stir in pineapple. Pour batter into greased and floured 9"x13" pan. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and dry.

I made the chocolate cake Friday. As soon as it's eaten, I think I'll be making this.

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Zucchini Bread

I have tried other zucchini bread recipes, but this is by far the best one. The recipe was given to me when I got married. Our moms handed out recipe cards to the ladies at church and asked them to submit their favorite recipes. This one was from a wonderful lady named Betty Brooks.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs, beaten 1 c. oil 2 c. sugar 2 c. grated zucchini 2 t. vanilla	3 c. flour (part whole wheat) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped nuts
Directions: Add oil and sugar to beaten eggs, then zucchini and vanilla. Cream together. Mix flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Cool on wire rack.

Thanks to my sister in law Cindy who requested a good zucchini bread recipe, I think I'm going to be making this soon. I do have zucchini from my garden!

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Zucchini Recipes

Image via Wikipedia

I picked the first zucchini from my garden this morning, so I'll be needing this list of zucchini recipes soon. Some of these we've tried, and some I just want to try.

• Zucchini Patties (Jeffrey and I liked these. I just served them plain, but I think I'll add the tomato sauce and cheese next time)
  
• Zucchini Casserole (with onions, peppers, and tomatoes)
• and a whole list of zucchini recipes to try

And these are recipes I have used several times and really enjoyed:

• Zucchini Crescent Pie
• Zucchini Hamburger Pie

Those zucchini plants better get busy - I have big plans!

Spiced Zucchini Bars w/ Cranberries

I said I'd post the recipe I used for my partially dried cranberries. Here it is. I found this a while back on a really yummy looking blog - Culinary in the Desert - and then I forgot about it. I found the recipe again the other day, and finally made these. They are amazing! I will be making them again.

I also added the blog to my blog list, so I won't forget to go back and see what else is cooking over there.

Spiced Zucchini Bars with Cranberries and Pecans
(Adapted from One Smart Cookie)

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup packed grated zucchini
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy. Mix in egg and vanilla - beat until smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.

Add the flour mixture along with the grated zucchini into the butter mixture. Stir just until combined and then gently fold in the dried cranberries and pecans .

Scoop batter into an 8x8" baking dish lightly coated with nonstick spray. Bake until the top springs back when lightly touched near the center, about 25-30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

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Chocolate Zucchini Cake

We always had a huge garden when I was growing up, and that included a lot of zucchini. One of our favorite zucchini desserts was this chocolate cake:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 c. soft butter 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1-3/4 c. sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. sour milk 2-1/2 c. flour

4 T. cocoa 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. cloves 2 c. finely diced (not shredded) zucchini 1/4 c. (or more) chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream margarine, oil and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and sour milk. Beat well with mixer. Mix together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Beat well with mixer. Stir in diced zucchini. Spoon batter into greased and floured 9"x13" pan and sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and dry.