Monday 24 June 2013

Secret Recipe Club: Zucchini Cookies



It's yet another Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day. This is one of my favourite challenges as each month we are paired with a secret blog and we have to pick a recipe to make from that blog and reveal it on the same day. This month, I had the pleasure of looking through Secret Recipe Club's owner April's blog! She is a frugal wife and homeschooling mom who blogs at Angel's Homestead. As expected there are a lot of delicious, home style and frugal recipes on her blog.

April was born and raised in Southern Indiana where she now lives with her husband and children. She also spent many years in Chicago in her late teens and early 20's. Her passion is her family which shows through in her blog. She loves cooking and baking and documents her family’s efforts to live a simple, frugal and self-sufficient life.

I had a great time browsing through her recipes and shortlisting what I wanted to make. When I saw the zucchini (courgette) cookies, I knew I had to make them. I love baking with vegetables and have previously used zucchinis in a cake so I was curious to find out if it would work in a cookie form. Plus cookies are my favourite treat - yes more than cake! 

These cookies were absolutely delicious! I made a lot of cookies and they disappeared really quickly. You can actually see the zucchini in some of the cookies! It was a thin crispy cookie with a lovely spice and crunch of nuts. The chocolate helped to balance the flavours and the wholemeal made it feel healthy and virtuous. I used wholemeal flour instead of plain flour as I had some to hand and I thought it would work well with the flavours here. 

Other recipes that caught my eye were apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies, creamy lemon crumb squares, maple syrup pancake muffins and the BEST chocolate cake EVER (the title says it all for that one!)



 

 adding the grated zucchini

 adding pecan nuts and chocolate chips 

 WARNING - these cookies spread a lot so space them out properly 

 otherwise you get something like this 

 Thin crispy cookie! 

Recipe from Angel's Homestead

The only changes I made was to use wholemeal flour and to reduce the sugar amount. There may be a slight variation with the conversion 

225g butter
250g caster sugar
100g brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
375g wholemeal flour
1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup peeled, grated zucchini - I used 1 medium sized zucchini as shown
1 cup chocolate chips - I used 200g which is just over 1 cup
1/2 cup chopped pecans - I used 90g which was just over 1/2 cup

  • Preheat oven to 175C.
  • Cream the butter and sugars. 
  • Add eggs, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon, 
  • Stir in grated zucchini.
  • Add pecan nuts and chocolate chips. 
  • Place 6 - 8 scoops of cookie dough on each tray (depending on size of your tray) as the cookies spread a LOT whilst baking. 
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and lightly browned on top. 
  • Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 





23 comments:

  1. I'm intrigued that your cookies came out thin and crispy, when mine come out puffy and cake like. Maybe because of the type of flour you used? They still look delicious either way. Happy SRC Reveal Day, and you did a great job on the cookies! :)

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    1. I'll have to try it with plain flour to compare. I used plain wholemeal flour for this recipe.

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  2. They sound great! I've made chocolate zucchini muffins and my kids had no idea the zucchini was there. Great pick for SRC!

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    1. Chocolate zucchini muffins sound delicious too!

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  3. These are really interesting, I've baked cakes with courgette before but wouldn't have thought of using it in a cookie as it's such a wet vegetable. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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    1. I wasn't sure about using it in a cookie either so I'm pleased it turned out well.

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  4. What a FABULOUS SRC pick Ros and I love cookies that have vegetables in them! So LOVELY to see you this weekend, it was such a blast! Karen xxxx

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    1. It was lovely to see you too Karen! I'll have to experiment more with vegetables in cookies now that I know it works.

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  5. I haven't done anything with zucchini yet this year. I cannot wait to start though.

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    1. I can't wait to see what you come up with :)

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  6. Yumm! What a tasty treat to enjoy! Great SRC pick!!

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  7. Mmmm. Great SRC pick. I love zucchini cookies, they always come out so moist.

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    1. It's my first time making these but it definitely won't be the last :)

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  8. I have a ton from the garden, what a great use for zucchini!

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    1. I thought so too. I love zucchini and usually roast it in the oven for dinner. It's great to use it in baking too.

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  9. I have yet to try courgette in baking, but these could tempt me!!

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    1. They are really good in baking - for cakes and cookies!

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  10. I have SO many zucchinis and summer squash from my garden and I'm getting sick of savory squash recipes... I'll definitely have to try making these!!

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    1. Yes and try them in cakes too - you won't regret it :)

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  11. What a unique recipe, I've never heard of zucchini inside of cookies! They look fabulous!!

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  12. Rose I love these zucchini cookies!!

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  13. These are perfect for when the zucchini in my garden starts coming! I've made zucchini bread before but never cookies...sounds like they turned out great! Great SRC pick!

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  14. Yum. Great idea. I have some zucchini in the freezer, I should try this with.

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