My Sis is Hungry: Zucchini Bread Cookies

My sister ripped this recipe out of a magazine, handed it to me and asked me to make them for her. Um, that's a little bossy but ok, whatever. So when Brooke came over yesterday and was bored I asked if she wanted to make these cookies for me - as in for me to give to her mom LOL, and she did. I would never have made these if it wasn't for B, they didn't sound good to me at all hahahah.  

While she was scooping out the batter onto the cookie sheets I said they look a little weird, maybe more of a breakfast thing - and she said they look weird and more like a salad. I laughed hard. 

I know my sis is going to review these and ask if they're healthy, she told me not to tell her because if they're healthy she'll give them a higher rating hahah. When she texted me 'thanks for the cookies and they taste better than they look', I may have yelled 'THEY LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE PHOTO YOU GAVE ME' like somehow I just randomly made these cookies for her and not based on the recipe she insisted I make? Like it's my fault they look like they do? LOL.

I wrote 'you realize these are the cookies you wanted me to make for you, right?' She said 'no, not until Brooke told me' 🤦‍♀️

I'm writing this before receiving her review just to prove I know what she's going to say hahahah.

• 2 ripe medium bananas
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 T. honey
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (I didn't have ww flour, used all white flour)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (note B used milk chocolate mini chips)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (we omitted the nuts)

1. Heat oven to 350'. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.
3. Add flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix to combine. Fold in oats, then zucchini, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
4. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto prepared sheet, spacing 2" apart. Bake until golden brown, 14-18 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.'

Jen's review in her words:

So first I have to start with that these were my “find”.  I got a mystery delivery of the food network magazine in the mail- I knew I absolutely wouldn’t subscribe to something like that and forget. I thought maybe my husband or teen had done it as a hint?  Turns out it was my mother.  Apparently she knows me well. 

Anyway- I then feel obligated to flip through this magazine (or I’m wasteful).  Anyway- stumbled across Zucchini cookies.  WHAT? A chance to eat cookies and pretend I’m still healthy? COUNT ME IN.  oh wait.. except I don’t actually bake.  Darn.  Then VOILA! My sister and teen produce these cookie’s!! I was SUPER thankful (wanna say that off the bat).. but they looked like garbage.  Green garbage with chocolate chips.  At first bite I was perplexed.  It didn’t taste like a cookie at all but did taste like a version of delicious moist zucchini bread.  The chocolate chips made me feel like I couldn’t put butter on it though so that was an issue.  They were VERY moist – and quite sticky.  Didn’t love that part.  And wasn’t as firm as bread. Didn’t love that part.  I guess my rating of these is average.  Flavor was good but I was perplexed by the not a cookie not bread status.

Hopefully our mother keeps sending this magazine so I can give my sister more things I would like her to try and make me.. what a giver I am. HAHAHA

Baked Zucchini

I don't love zucchini, I think I've mentioned that before, but bake it with a crispy crunchy panko parmesan topping and I'd eat this every day. Every day. It's that good!

1 t. olive oil
1 pound zucchini, sliced 1/4" thick
salt and pepper
pinch of paprika

For the topping:
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 T. olive oil
8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stem

Heat oven to 350'. Brush 1 teaspoon olive oil on the bottom of an 8x8" baking dish. Arrange the slices of zucchini in the dish, overlapping as necessary. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.

In a small bowl combine the panko and parmesan, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir until all the breadcrumbs are soaked with the oil. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the dish and bake until the top is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve with marinara on the side if desired.

recipe by Sunny Anderson, Food Network

10.5.18: paper strip pumpkin

10.5.17: mummy picture

10.5.16: m&m cookie bars

10.5.15: squash ghosts

Zucchini Bread or Cake

Mickey asked me the other day if I had a zucchini bread recipe - yep I do - I thought it was already on the blog but I can't find it if it is, so at the risk of repeating I'm posting it because it's a really good one and what's even better about this recipe is that it can be bread or cake!

Mmmmmm...cake.....

Mickey added some mashed banana (and chocolate chips on half) and baked it in a 13x9 cake pan. But she didn't frost it so which is it - cake shaped bread or unfrosted cake? Haha, either way it's so good!!

This makes 2 bread loaves or 1 13x9 cake. (I've also made muffins). If you want it to be "cake" it's delicious with fluffy cream cheese frosting : Mix 4 ounces softened butter and 4 ounces softened cream cheese in a mixer until smooth and blended. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla, beat until smooth and fluffy.

Summer Squash Spiral Gratins

This takes a little time to put together but it isn't hard, so don't let that discourage you from making these! It's just thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash rolled into a big pinwheel layered on top of carmelized leeks (you could use onions instead), studded with sliced tomato and baked. The original recipe made one big spiral but I made individual ones by making small spirals and baking them in 5" springform pans - I think cupcake molds would also work. I like the presentation of the spirals this way instead of cutting the big one into wedges, but if you want to make one big one go for it and let me know how it turns out!

I don't love zucchini (I've probably mentioned this in the past - for me, just like bananas, zucchini is best baked into bread haha) but this is very pretty and flavorful; we had them for dinner with grilled steak, a green salad with mustard vinaigrette (click here for that recipe), and crusty bread. 

Click here for the original recipe found at foodandwine.com - I changed the recipe a bit by shaping them into small spirals; I substituted italian blend shredded cheese for the gruyere, sprinkled grated parmesan on the slices in addition to the italian cheese, and topped each spiral with panko breadcrumbs before baking. That made a nice crunchy topping - yum. Here's the original recipe with my notes added:

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 small leeks (1/2 pound), white and tender green parts thinly sliced into rounds
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 3 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices (it's easier to do this if you have a mandoline)
• 3 medium yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 cup finely shredded Gruyere (about 2 ounces) NOTE: I substituted an Italian blend instead.
• 1 plum tomato, very thinly sliced
• sea salt and crusty bread for serving
• panko breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter , optional for topping NOTE: that's my addition, original recipe doesn't call for that step

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425'. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over moderately high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Spread in a 9" round baking dish (NOTE: I divided the leeks up evenly amongst 5 small springform pans.
2. Meanwhile, on 2 large baking sheets, spread the zucchini and yellow squash and brush with the 
3. remaining 3 tablespoons of oil; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese (NOTE: I also sprinkled grated parmesan in addition to the shredded Italian blend I used) and let sit until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. 
4. Tightly roll 1 piece of zucchini and set in on the leeks in the center of the dish. Working outward from that center slice, continue rolling and coiling additional pieces of zucchini and yellow squash until you reach the edge of the baking dish. Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper, then tuck in intervals between the zucchini and squash. Scrape any cheese off of the baking sheets and sprinkle on top. (NOTE: because I made smaller individual spirals I just held the center rolled up zucchini in my hand and continued to wrap more slices around it while holding it - also I liked how alternating the squashes looked and didn't wrap too much of either color at the same time, try to vary it up - once it's large enough to fit in the individual pans, carefully set it down and add more to the spiral if it needs it to fill up the pan).
5. NOTE: this is where I added the panko topping. In a small saucepan I melted a little butter and added a big handful of panko to combine. Then sprinkle it only each spiral before baking. You can omit this step if you want!
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until the zucchini and squash are tender and browned in spots. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool slightly, then serve with crusty bread. 

we had leftovers the next night with grilled chicken sausage and it was just as good as the first night. 

one year ago: what's better than a mojito? a pitcher of mojitos

Zucchini Muffins

 The original title of this recipe is "the best zucchini muffins" (click here for post and recipe found at melskitchencafe) and I baked them thinking "right, sure, the best..uh huh, whatever" - I had the ingredients and I like this blog so I figured what the heck. Even after making them I wasn't convinced they were "the best" but then I started getting feedback about them - Brooke's friend Erica requested that I make more just for her and my friend Rhonda B. said "they are recipe book worthy" to which I replied that I'm quoting her on the blog and she said that's fine as long as I share the recipe. Which makes me want to hoard the recipe and not tell anyone since they are that great hahahaha. But I wouldn't do that :)

So here ya go Rhonda!

Ingredients (I'm giving you how I did it, Mel's options are in parentheses):

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil (you can substitute avocado, vegetable, or coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute white whole wheat)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini lightly squeezed of excess water
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, optional (you can use milk chocolate or bittersweet)
• coarse sugar for sprinkling on top, optional 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350'. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla until well-combined.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until the batter is just mixed together, do not over-mix.
5. Stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips if using. It's ok if the batter is still slightly lumpy.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tin. Add a few chocolate chips to the top of each muffin for presentation (note: I did it but it is totally not necessary), or sprinkle with coarse sugar if you omit the chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the tops spring back lightly to the touch.
8. Let cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.                    Makes 12 muffins

my notes:

• this made 12 standard size muffins filled 2/3 full, plus I had enough leftover batter for 11 mini muffins. If you make minis they bake for about 8 minutes.
• I shred the zucchini using my food processor with the shredding disk. You could use a box grater instead.
• to squeeze the water out of shredded zucchini  - I gently press handfuls between my palms over the sink, then put on a paper towel and press a little more. It doesn't have to be bone dry, just remove the excess.

one year ago today: mason jar lunchables. I still think this is a genius idea!

Zucchini Pie

Well it's that time of year...zucchini, zucchini, zucchini! Last week I posted a great Zucchini Lasagna recipe from The Italian Dish (click here for that post), and today it's Zucchini Pie - different than the lasagna for sure (waaaay less cheese for starters!) but just as good. Fun to have different ways to switch up eating our summer veggies.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds zucchini (about 5 for me)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1 1/2 T. olive oil
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 T. chopped fresh oregano (I used 1 T. dried)
• 5 garlic cloves, minced (I only used 1 t. minced)
• 7 large eggs
• 2/3 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 1/2 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup)
• 2 ounces grated parmesan (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:

1. Using a spiralizer, cut zucchini into noodles, or cut zucchini into long noodles using a julienne peeler.  Place zucchini in a colander in sink. Toss with 1 teaspoon salt and let stand 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add tomatoes, oregano, and garlic; cook, stirring often, until tomatoes are wilted, 3-4 minutes. Remove mixture from pan and cool slightly.
3. Preheat oven to 375'. Place half of zucchini noodles on a clean kitchen towel, wrap towel around zucchini and twist/squeeze until all liquid is extracted (note: I did this a little differently by taking small handfuls of zucchini and pressing them between my hands over the sink to get out a lot of the liquid, then put in paper towels and squeeze some more, repeat with all of the zucchini).
4. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until lightly beaten. Whisk in milk, flour, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add tomato mixture, cheeses, and zucchini; toss.
5. Wrap bottom of a 9" springform pan tightly with foil; coat bottom and sides with non-stick cooking spray. Pour egg mixture into pan. Bake at 375' until set in the middle, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool 10-15 minutes. Remove sides from pan; cut zucchini pie into 6 wedges. 

serves 6 (or 3 if you're like us!). It's great hot, at room temperature, and cold. 

calories 267, fat 14.8g, carb 17g, fiber 3g

the recipe came from Cooking Light

we had it with pesto chicken (click here for my fave pesto recipe - so good!)

Zucchini Lasagna

I got this recipe from The Italian Dish blog that I love (see the side bar on my main page for a couple other blogs I also like) - I haven't made a bad recipe following her instructions, and this Zucchini Lasagna is one of my favorites. I changed a couple things - her original recipe calls for cooking the zucchini first and I just use it raw, and she uses 1 cup of bread crumbs but I scaled it back to 1/2 cup. It is usually watery after baking it (haha it's probably because I don't cook the zucchini and reduced the bread crumbs!) but I just carefully tip the dish over the sink and drain some of the water off. This is really, really good - a perfect easy summer meatless recipe.

• 3 lbs. zucchini, sliced into long thin strips
• 1 quart spaghetti or thick tomato sauce
• 1/2 cups bread crumbs
• 1 lb. ricotta
• 4 eggs
• 2 T. chopped parsley
• 1/2 t. dried oregano
• 1/2 t. dried basil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella

Combine ricotta, eggs, parsley, seasoning and half of the parmesan cheese and half of the bread crumbs in a bowl. Set aside.

In a 9x13 pan, spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce. On top of the sauce layer 1/2 of the zucchini,   1/2 ricotta mixture, half the mozzarella cheese, the rest of the zucchini, layer more tomato sauce and the rest of the bread crumbs and top with remaining ricotta mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.

Bake 350' for 1 hour. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

Note: This time I made it in an 8x8" pan and did 3 layers instead of 2 - either way is yum!

click here to see the original post from The Italian Dish. 

Zucchini Tots

I "zoodled" some zucchini (made noodles out of zucchini) for Dave to eat with grilled chicken while I was gone to my sissy's wedding but he ended up going out just about every night so he stuck the zoodles in the freezer...hmmm I wasn't sure what the texture was going to be of the thawed zucchini and sure enough, it's not great - super watery. So instead of trying to keep them as zoodles I saw this recipe for zucchini tots and thought they might be good for that if I really wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini and then chop in small pieces...and it worked! These are so good!

ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 1 packed cup grated zucchini
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 medium onion, minced
• 1/4 cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400'. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel until you have 1 packed cup. Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini, there will be a lot of water. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon 1 T. of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until golden. Makes 16.

Yield:  serving size 5 tots. Per serving: 108 calories, 4.3g fat, sodium 262mg, carb 11.5g, protein 7g. 

Click here for the original post found on Skinnytaste.com

Zucchini Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

My niece suggested I do a category of lighter and healthier options, I think that's a great idea - we usually eat pretty healthy and simply (not counting Sunday Suppers and all those baked goods haha!) so when I make something that has a lighter or healthier twist I'll try to post it. First up is... cookies! Ok, ok,  maybe not health food exactly, but this has zucchini in it which is obviously healthy and has to have lightened up these cookies somewhat - right? Does it count as eating your vegetables? :)

I had shredded zucchini in the freezer from that gigantic zucchini last fall (click here for that post), I thawed and drained it before adding to the other ingredients. Followed the recipe pretty closely except I used regular oats (not quick cook) and omitted the nuts. The recipe suggests reserving a few of the chocolate chips to put on the tops of the dough before baking, I did that for one sheet and didn't like how it looks so for the remaining cookies I just put all the chips in the dough and scooped out using my medium cookie scoop (approx. 2 Tablespoons). I got 32 cookies (without eating any of the dough haha).

with chips added to the top of dough...

...and without

left is chips added to tops, right is just all mixed in.

I expected the texture to be like oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies but they are more like little soft zucchini bread cookies. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I thought they'd be like - still yummy though and everyone who has tried them loves them... a winner recipe and "healthier"? Can't beat that :)

click here for the recipe.

The Hulk Sized Zucchini

next to a summer squash for size comparison,
and it isn't a little summer squash!

My friend brought this ginormous zucchini over wondering what to do with it - zucchini bread was the obvious thought but then realized it's waaaaaay bigger than just zucchini bread. It's so big we made a few things with it...

We cut it in half and made one huge zucchini boat (I rubbed olive oil, salt and pepper on the skin and placed it in a very large roasting pan; then made 2 boxes of cornbread stuffing to fill the boat; baked at 375' for an hour - big enough to serve 4 people!)

lemon zest and juice in the batter,
then spooned lemon glaze onto
warm loaves. Smells SO good!

Using the shredding disc on my food processor (had to get the manual out to figure out how to use the disc!) I shredded the other half - it made 9 cups!  Ended up making 2 loaves of glazed lemon zucchini bread, chunky garden vegetable sauce, and put 3 bags (2 cups each) in the freezer. That's a lot of zucchini!

I freeze a lot of things this way - portion out and fill
 bags, flatten, then stick a straw in the top and suck out
as much air as possible to make it air tight.