Monthly Archives: August 2014

Secret ingredient peanut butter cookies

It’s that time of year when you have so much zucchini in the garden you don’t know what to do with it all. Here is a recipe that I tried to make slightly more heart healthy than the original from TOH. Once the cookies cool you cannot even tell there is zucchini “Hidden” inside. Which makes zucchini the secret ingredient.

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

This recipe yields 42 cookies using a number 40 size scoop.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups ap flour
2 TB ground flaxseed
1/4 cup vegetable shorten or unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of crunchy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup shredded & peeled Zucchini

Directions:

1. In a large bowl cream with hand mixer peanut butter, sugars, and flaxseed.

Until thoroughly combined.

Add one egg in at a time. Mixing after each addition.

Add flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and mix until well combined.

Add in shredded zucchini.

Using size 40 scoop portion out onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly browned.

Flatten slightly with cooking sprayed glass cup prior to placing in oven.

Remove from pan right away onto cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Zucchini & Raisin Whole Wheat Muffins

It’s that time of year! We have zucchini coming out of our ears! This rain has sure helped! My previous boss gave me a zucchini cookbook from our hometown’s garden club. There are oodles of zucchini muffin recipes in the book. I found one of interest and made some modifications to lighten up the calories in these muffins! I made them for my sister and nephew for breakfast this weekend. I added raisins since that’s my nephews favorite snack and the only way I can get him to eat them.

Yields: 12 standard muffins and 6 mini muffins (I love the mini for east tasting & the perfect size for my toddler aged nephew).

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 TB baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp Vietnamese ground cinnamon
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
2 egg whites (local when possible)
1/4 cup local honey
1/4 canola oil
1/2 tsp pure Mexican vanilla extract
1 cup shredded (not pealed) zucchini
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup skim milk
Cinnamon & sugar to sprinkle

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line muffin tins with paper liners or silicone cups and spray with cooking spray.
2. Place flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, & nutmeg in a medium bowl.

3. Whisk to incorporate.

4. In a separate large bowl mix milk, vanilla, egg whites, honey, & oil until combined.

5. Add dry blend into wet mixture.

6. Whisk to incorporate, leaving no dry residue.

7. Add raisins and zucchini.

Fold in with spatula to incorporate evenly.

Use a size 16 to scoop out standard muffins and a size 60 scoop for minis.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (optional). Bake standard muffins for 20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Bake minis for 8 to 9 minutes.

Leave in pan for 5 minutes and remove and let cool on wire rack.

Enjoy with some apple butter !

Blackberry Overnight French Toast

We had a sleepover last night in our household after a night out on the town. I had to work early so I wanted to make sure my family had something to eat when they woke up! This recipe was adapted from one of my cookbooks and the original can be found on FN website.

This is so easy and the bonus is I used leftover heels of bread (about 8 ounces or 8 slices). I freeze them as I get to the end of the loaf and either use them for bread crumbs or breakfast casseroles.

Makes 8 servings !

Ingredients:
2 cups of egg substitute
4 whole eggs
2 cups of skim milk (or if you want to lighten up the calories even more use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
8 heels of light wheat bread (35 calories a slice) (toasted and cut into 1 inch cubes)
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups of blackberries (or your favorite berry)
2 TB raw sugar
1/4 cup roasted slivered almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon (plus some for sprinkling about another 1/2 tsp)

You will need a 9 by 13 baking dish for this recipe.

Directions:
1. Scatter the toasted bread cubes evenly along the bottom of the pan.

Set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk milk, eggs, egg substitute, vanilla, syrup, and cinnamon.

3. Once combined pour liquid evenly over the bread cubes and dust with additional cinnamon for good measure.

4. Spread berries evenly over the bread.

5. Repeat scatter placement and sprinkle with almonds and top with light dusting of raw sugar.

6. Cover with foil and let set over night or for at least 8 hours in refrigerator.

7. Remove from refrigerator and uncover bake for 50 to 60 minutes.

Enjoy!

Caramel Frosted Zucchini Bars

My grandma gave me a bunch of old recipe cards a few years ago. Most of them were blank but one I stumbled across was a zucchini bar. I did modify the recipe to incorporate more heart healthy options.I am always looking for zucchini recipes because the garden is always producing more zucchini then one person can make. This is a flavorful spice bar with a added bonus fiber from the whole wheat flour and zucchini.

I have made zucchini cake before but it’s always been chocolate zucchini cake. This one is more like zucchini bread with frosting!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 1/2 cup AP Flour
2 cup shredded zucchini (no need to peel!) (not strained)
1/4 cup apple butter or unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup raw sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup pecans chopped or walnuts
1/2 raisins
10 by 15 inch baking sheet pan (with 3/4 inch depth)

Frosting
1/2 cup butter unsalted
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup skim milk
1 to 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on baking sheet.

1. Mix well together in medium bowl flours, salt, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves set aside.

2. In a large bowl mix oil, sugar, vanilla, apple butter together then one egg at a time mixing after each addition.

3. Add dry mix to wet.

4. Fold in zucchini then nuts, and raisins.

Mix until everything is well blended.

Pour batter into baking sheet and evenly spread with spatula.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If your zucchini is very moist you may need to bake 20 to 25 minutes. I strained my zucchini and the bars didn’t come out as moist as I would have hoped. Next time I will not remove the excess water. Use tooth pick method to test cake prior to removing from oven. If tooth pick comes out clean remove from oven.