898. Great new Zucchini dessert recipes, by Dennis Weaver, in Meridian Magazine

For those of you with zucchini from your garden, or your neighbor's garden!

Zucchini Sticky Toffee Pudding

Oh, my. The banana sticky toffee pudding is good but I think this is better.

We have the best, friendliest neighborhood. And so, in the heat of the summer, everyone shares their zucchini. I love zucchini but I can’t eat them that quickly. Some of them get grated for baking and freezing. This is a great recipe for using some of your extra zucchini.

You will be tempted to leave the flavors out but don’t. The sauce is good with vanilla flavor; it’s phenomenal with a butterscotch flavor. Caramel flavor, brown sugar flavor, and French vanilla flavor are all good and each gives a distinctly different tone to the sauce.

For the toffee sauce:

This is not complicated to make. You will need a candy thermometer. Just cook it until you reach the desired temperature.

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 cube) salted butter
1 teaspoon butterscotch flavor

In a large heavy saucepan, add the cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Over medium heat, bring the ingredients to a gentle boil stirring often. Continue cooking until the temperature reaches 230. You will need to stir constantly as it approaches the targeted temperature. Set aside.

Once the sauce has started to cool, stir in the flavor. Let the sauce cool completely.

It the sauce is too thick to spread, thin with a little additional whipping cream.

For the pudding:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 cubes) butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup grated zucchini
2 teaspoons brown sugar flavor or other flavor
2/3 cups cinnamon chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand-type mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs and then the zucchini and flavor.

Add the flour mixture and beat until just well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the chips.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cake tests done with a toothpick stuck in the center of the cake. Let cool on a rack in the pan.

To assemble the pudding:

Spread the sauce on the cooled cake. Place the topped cake in the oven set at 350 degrees for six minutes or until the sauce has thick bubbles. Remove from the oven. Grasp the edges of the parchment paper and lift the cake to a cutting board for cutting and serving. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Cinnamon Burst Sour Cream Zucchini Bread

This recipe came to us from Kara Orgill who visits our store and is an excellent baker.

Several years ago, we visited a Great Harvest® bakery where we tried their cinnamon burst bread. We loved the cinnamon chips and the bursts of sweet cinnamon they created. When we got back to the office, we called a food broker, “Find us those chips!” Several months later he did and we’ve been using them in bread, muffins, and cookies since.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini squash
1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together. Fold in the sour cream, oil, and zucchini.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the cinnamon chips. Do not continue stirring.

Pour the batter into two well-greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until done. Cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing the loaves from the pan.

The Last Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookie Recipe

Basic cookie recipe:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar flavor or Madagascar vanilla 
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Inclusions:

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Zucchini:

1 cup grated zucchini

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease very well.

1. For the basic cookie: Cream together the butter, sugars, and salt. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat again.
2. Add the flour and baking soda to the creamed ingredients and beat until well dispersed, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl once. The dough will be thick like clay.
3. For the inclusions: Add the chocolate chips, raisins, and walnuts and beat until just mixed.
4. For the zucchini: Add the zucchini until just combined. The water in the zucchini will transform the dough to a medium batter. Stop once it is combined or you will continue to force water from the zucchini and your batter will be too runny.
5. To Bake: Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto the prepared sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until done. The tops of the cookies should look wet and the edges should be starting to brown. Immediately remove the cookies from the sheet to racks to cool. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Baker’s notes:

These are large cookies–which is some of their appeal. If you make smaller cookies, reduce baking times.

Zucchini is mostly water. If you use frozen zucchini or if the zucchini has residual water, drain it. We always used freshly grated zucchini and the cookies were consistent. If your cookies spread too much, add a little flour or turn the temperature up.

The Three-Way Zucchini Bars

This recipe makes a dense cake-like bar. You might call it a snacking cake and it is good without any frosting. We have included three frosting recipes, very good frosting. Take your pick.

These recipes work very well for other baked goods.

For the zucchini bars:

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or brown sugar flavor
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup cinnamon chips
2 cups grated zucchini or other summer squash

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. With your stand-type mixer and with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugars together. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
2. Beat in the flour and baking powder. Add the cinnamon chips and nuts beating until just dispersed.
3. Fold in the zucchini. Do not mix any more than necessary.
4. Spread into a greased 9 x 13-inch greased baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Frost the cake after it has cooled with one of the recipes below.

Standard Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a standard cream cheese frosting like what you would find on a carrot cake. It is dense and rich.

4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice
water

Cream the cream cheese and butter with the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and lemon juice. Add just enough water to bring the frosting to a spreadable consistency.

Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a lighter cream cheese frosting. You can still pile it high but with entrained air, it won’t seem so intense. This has been a favorite recipe in our store.

1 four-ounce package of cream cheese (or half an eight-ounce block)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon caramel flavor
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon meringue powder
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Cream the granulated sugar with the cream cheese. Add the other ingredients and beat until light and fluffy.

Brown Sugar Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a brown sugar version of the earlier recipe and is very good.

1 four-ounce package of cream cheese (or half an eight-ounce block)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar flavor
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon meringue powder
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cream the brown sugar with the cream cheese. Add the other ingredients and beat until light and fluffy.

These are just a few of many great recipes to use up some of your zucchini!

About the Author

Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho. He loves to help people bake and shares his vast collection of cooking and baking knowledge on his blog as well as in his e-books and magazines. Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and six beautiful granddaughters.