Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 beaten egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in 350º oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf (16 servings).

I was at a friend's house in elementary school when her mom offered me zucchini bread. I remember thinking,"Y'all are crazy," and I politely declined. I come from more of a banana bread family. Now that I have married a banana-hater and I have a vegetable-hater for a daughter (and I've had time to grow into a much more adventureous eater), I was more than willing to give zucchini bread a chance. I found this recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

The ingredients:







Dry ingredients all mixed together.

Grated zucchini.

All the wet ingredients mixed together. I adore the green color this concotion gave me. It's so pretty! I know that sounds weird to love the green that's going into your bread but you zucchini bread lovers out there understand.

Here are the wet and dry ingredients as they are ready to be mixed together.

The finished batter as it's poured into the bread pan and is ready to go into the oven. Unlike most recipes I saw, this recipe only makes one loaf which is great if you're preparing it for a small crowd.

The bread right after it came out of the oven. The recipe states that after it has cooled, you are supposed to wrap it up in plastic wrap and let it set overnight before cutting into it. I'm much too inpatient to wait for that so I ignored that directive.

The finished product: mmm...zucchini bread. When we had it the first night, it was pretty good. The sweetness was about perfect and the texture was okay. After I wrapped it and let the remaining bread set overnight, it was much better. I don't know why but it was so much moister the next day. I will definitely wrap and wait because it improves this bread 10-fold (and maybe I'll even listen to the recipe next time I try something new...maybe). The moistness of the bread combined with the sweetness and spice were really good. I still have some zucchini so I'm going to go make some more right now.

Moving

We just moved. All that packing and unpacking has left me with very little time to try out new recipes. I have had a chance to bake, but only some old standard recipes. I have tried out the new oven and gas (GAS!!) stove on both my chocolate crackletop cookies and the turkey meatball hoagies. This set up is very different from my last so it definitely is going to take a while to figure out the idiosyncrasies. Bare with me as I experiment with not only new recipes but new equipment.

Andes Mint Cookies

Andes Creme de Menthe Chunk Cookies

1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips
2 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and eggs until mixed. Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour. Chill one hour in refrigerator. Measure out approzimately 1 oz of dough. Form balls and slightly flatten. Raise oven rack one level above middle and bake on non-stick baking pans. Bake on 350º for 8-10 minutes. Cool on pans for 2 minutes before removing.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

I found this recipe long ago and have used it many times. It's a favorite of many and I definitely recommend it. If you buy the Andes Creme de Menthe chips, it's the recipe on the back of the bag (which I'm most definitely not too good to use).

The ingredients:


All the ingredients (minus baking chips and flour) ready to be mixed up.

The mixed dough. It's really runny at this stage because of the 2 eggs.

Mmmm...baking chips. Who wouldn't love chocolate and mint?

This is right before adding the flour.

The finished dough before it went to the refridgerator to chill.

The chilled dough is significantly stiffer and much easier to handle.

Ready to go in the oven.

Out of the oven. I cooked these for right around 8 and a half minutes. When they come out of the oven, they are a lot puffier but they fall quickly in the cool air. By the time you go to transfer them at 2 minutes they look like this.

The final product: these are basic and yummy. I've made these enough for them to become an old standard for me and they are so good that they'll remain in my playbook for years to come. I have made this for crowds multiple times and they always go over very well. The creme de menthe is very refreshing and would be a great complement to coffee or cocoa.

First True Experiment

We are getting ready to move. Some of the most creative dishes come out of looking at your refridgerator and freezer and trying to fiugre out what to do with what you've got left so you don't have to move it. That's where this dish came from. I was looking in my freezer and found a half package of frozen meatballs. I think I originally used them to make a meatball soup. I thought that I could make that recipe again but that seemed kind of heavy when it's nearly 100ºF. Instead I decided to pair these meatballs with the sweet & sour sauce recipe posted earlier and see what happened.

The ingredients:

Sweet & Sour Sauce

1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Stir together ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. After cooking meat and vegetables, stir sauce; add to empty skillet. Cook and stir until bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.

Here is the mixed-up sauce.

I decided to saute the frozen meatballs in a bit of oil. They browned fairly easily in 7 minutes or so.

To get them to heat all the way through, I covered them for a while.

I over browned them a bit on one side but it didn't really hurt the flavor. The meat was a little tougher in that area but not enough to really be detrimental.

After cooking the meat and frozen stirfry vegetables, I removed them to a dish so I could cook the sauce.

When the sauce starts bubbling, it takes just a couple of minutes to get it to a glaze consistency. I've learned with this sauce, you want to be patient and make sure you've allowed it to bubble long enough otherwise you end up with a really runny sauce that doesn't fully coat the meat and vegetables.

I added some pineapple to the vegetables and meat when I mixed them into the sauce. They added a nice sweetness to compliment the sauce.

The finished product: this was okay. The meatballs and sauce we really good together. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed the beef meatballs (which could just as easily have been in Swedish meatballs or even some Italian dish) covered in sweet & sour sauce. The vegetables were definitely the low point. The cheap frozen mix I found at Walmart was not that great. After having the sauce paired with fresh carrots and peppers in my sweet & sour pork recipe, I really think the fresh vegetables are crucial to making this a really nice dish. They may add some prep time to this recipe (at least doubling it), I think they would most assuredly be worth it.

Chocolate Crackletops

Chocolate Crackletops

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups M&Ms chocolate mini baking bits
Additional granulated sugar

1. Combine flour and baking powder; set aside. In 2-quart saucepan over medium heat combine 2 cups sugar, butter and chocolate, stirring until butter and chocolate are melted; remove from heat. Gradually stir in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture utnil well blended. Chill mixture 1 hour. Stir in M&Ms chocolate mini baking bits; chill mixture an additional 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350º. Line cookie sheets with foil. With sugar-dusted hands, roll dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in additional sugar. Place about 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool completely on wire racks. Store in tightly covered container.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

This is a recipe I've made before but it goes over so well I had to share it. I found it in "The Cookie Bible." Some say it's like a brownie in cookie form. Whatever you call it, it's good.

The ingredients:


Chocolate, butter and sugar...things don't get much better than that.

The melted chocolate and sugar smelled great. I kind of wanted to try it plain (but I didn't).

After melting the chocolate and sugar, I added the eggs and vanilla.

The eggs and vanilla made the chocolate mixture much smoother and runnier.

Here is the chocolate mixture as I prepared to stir it into the dry ingredients.

Here is the finished dough right before I covered it and put it in the refrigerator to cool for an hour.

After it had cooled for an hour, I took the dough out and stirred in the baking M&Ms. Baking M&Ms are just like regular M&Ms only smaller (and cuter).

Here is the finished dough after it had cooled yet another hour. It was ready to roll into balls and bake.

After rolling the dough into balls, I rolled those balls in granulated sugar and placed them on the foiled-lined cookie sheets.

I baked the cookies for right about 10 minutes per batch. I let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 1 minute before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

The finished product: these are super-rich and very delicious. When they are warm and fresh, they are moist and chocolatey. The next day they take on a brownie-like quality with a chewier consistency and a more intense chocolate flavor. These may be one of the only cookies I've ever made that taste better the next day than they do fresh. The M&Ms make them very kid friendly but the small size and interesting texture make them good adult fare as well.

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
12 oz white chocolate baking squares (with cocoa butter), finely chopped
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 drops red food coloring (optional)
Sugar
2 tsp shortening
White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325º. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 oz (2/3 cup)of the chopped white chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, red food coloring. Form mixture into a ball and gently knead until smooth.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1 1/2-inch rounds. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Let stand for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
4. In a small saucepan heat and stir remaining 8 oz white chocolate and the shortening over low heat until smooth. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate mixture, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper. Let stand until set.

Makes 60 cookies.

The ingredients:



The cherries all chopped up and drying ... they're so pretty.

I still don't have a pastry blender so I had to cut in the butter by hand. It took a good 10 minutes or so to get it to the right consistency but I got it done. Perserverence. On that note, if anyone is looking for a Christmas or birthday gift idea ...

Mmm ... white chocolate.

Here is the dough with the cherries and chocolate ready to be mixed in. It says to add the food coloring now; I would wait a bit.

I added significantly more than the 2 drops of food coloring suggested in the recipe. I added the 2 drops before I even started kneading the dough and they pretty much disappeared. I kept adding more intermitently but really didn't see much of a change until most of the flour was worked into a dough (which takes quite a while). At that point, it took some kneading to get the color worked through evenly but it definitely showed up when added.

In hopes of getting evenly sized cookies, I rolled out all my ball o' cookies at once.

After the dough was portioned and balled, I simply put them on the cookie sheet and mashed them down with a sugared bottom of a juice glass. That was kind of enjoyable and fairly stress relieving. If you've got some pent up aggression or maybe just some old-fashioned angst, mash some pretty cookies with a glass. Afterward you'll be stress-free and you'll have cookies to boot.

Here is a baked cookie. It's not bad looking by itself but will be so much more fun after the next couple of steps.

Here is the rest of the white chocolate and the shortening before it's melted. It takes several minutes to melt (but would probably take less if you cut the chocolate up into finer pieces).

Dip. I would dip and then gently shake a little to get the excess to drip off. That seemed to work pretty well. I also tried dip and then wiping a bit of the excess off against the spoon handle; that technique takes a bit more finesse and doesn't really save you that much white chocolate so I switched back to my original plan by the end.

Roll. After dipping in the white chocolate, I rolled the edge in colored sugar. I didn't have as much of the red sugar as I wanted so I mixed it with a little regular sugar to make it more of a pinkish hue overall. The recipe also suggests some edible glitter or nonpareils but I couldn't find those on my regular grocery visit. Both versions are very pretty though, so if I plan ahead a little better before making these again I will try one of those.

Here are my cookies all lined up and cooling/drying. Make sure the chocolate is completely set before moving these off the waxed paper. I move one a little early and had a lot of difficulty getting it to ever set up well (it looked a little funky after that too).

The finished product: these are so pretty and yummy as well. I'm not a big fan of cherries in just about anything but the cherry flavor in this is subtle and pleasing. The white chocolate chunks and coating is smooth and delightful. These would be perfect for Valentine's Day or Christmas. You could even switch to green sugar for a classic "Christmasy" look.