More Garden Goodness

Zucchini/squash is delicious! (Technically zucchini is a squash so that is a bit redundant but some of my plants said squash and some said zucchini and I used both. And now that I have mentioned it when a recipe calls for zucchini, yellow zucchini or yellow squash can be used interchangeably ) We love it. Of course we haven't gotten to the point of sneaking it onto the neighbors porches either. In truth, I have had to beg for some from my sister. My three/four plants just aren't producing as I had hoped they would. I have still had ample opportunity to try out many zucchini/squash recipes.

Over the weekend I baked Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, Zucchini Bread, and Zucchini Spoon Bread Casserole (second appearance on the menu--already a family favorite). Everything turned out great at least in tastiness. As far as looks went. . . boy oh boy you should be very glad I do not post pictures. While tasty, the cupcakes looked HIDEOUS.

K2, a friend at work, questioned me as to what spoon bread is. So, I looked it up and from what I can find, the recipe I am going to share is not technically a spoon bread as it does not contain corn meal. If you want to read more click here.

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Zucchini Spoon Bread Casserole
from Sparky
Print Recipe

5 medium zucchini, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 cup Copycat Bisquick mix
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
3 eggs beaten in 1/2 cup oil

In a large bowl, combine zucchini, onion, and cheese. Add copycat Bisquick mix, salt, pepper, and oregano. Add eggs and oil and mix thoroughly. Bake in a greased casserole dish at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. 2 cups of lobster or crab meat can be added to make it a meal instead of a side dish.

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Chocolate-Zucchini Cupcakes
adapted from allrecipes.com
Print Recipe

2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar for about 10 minutes or until thickened and pale. Blend oil and cooled chocolate into the beaten egg mixture. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir flour mixture into egg mixture until just blended. Stir in zucchini and mini chocolate chips. Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon batter into 24 paper-lined or greased muffin cups, filling the cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; let cool completely. Spread with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and garnish with walnuts.


Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) at room temperature
4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix in cocoa powder. Spread or pipe onto Chocolate-Zucchini Cupcakes.

These looked hideous because they sort of spread out and then sunk. I have a few theories as to why that occurred and I will be making these again so I will let you know if they look less hideous next time. Of course I will also have to greatly improve upon my frosting technique by then too.

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Zucchini Bread
from Sparky
Print Recipe

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups raw, peeled, grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 loaf pans. (9 x 5 pans are fine too, the loaves will just be a little shorter.) Beat eggs in a large bowl with electric mixer until foamy. Add oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in zucchini. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add into zucchini mixture and beat on low until combined. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Run a butter knife around the edge of the loaves, cool for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Everything was delicious and again it was nice to use items from my garden, not to mention it is easier to justify eating a chocolate cupcake when it has zucchini in it. Best thing of all is I can get Bob to eat zucchini when it is in bread or cupcakes. Now I just need to figure out something like that for broccoli.

Have a great day!