Zucchini Cookies with Citrus Icing

Summer is just about over, which means it's time to harvest the last of the warm-weather crops. As always, I'm left with more zucchini than I know what to do with, which isn't necessarily a bad thing yet there is only so much zucchini bread a baker can make.

Gigantic, right?

So I recently made a plan to bake up some zucchini cookies, with inspiration from My Baking Addiction. The original recipe called for baking these in a whoopie pie pan (which I don't own), however I opted for a plain old baking sheet instead. The cookies turned out a bit thinner, but delicious nonetheless. It's all in the combination of tender cookie and delicious icing!

My changes to the recipe included adding almond extract and tweaking the icing glaze by adding some orange juice to it. I would definitely refer to these as muffin top cookies due to their fluffy, near-muffin like appearance and taste.

And again, my taste testers gave these high scores for flavor, uniqueness, and the ability to eat several in a row without realizing it. Enjoy!

Zucchini Cookies with Citrus Icing 
Adapted from: My Baking Addiction 
Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup finely shredded zucchini
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup raisins

Citrus Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg, zucchini, lemon zest, vanilla and almond extracts.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in raisins.

Use a medium cookie scoop (1 ½ tablespoons) to drop dough into the center of each whoopee pie well or simply drop them directly onto the prepared cookie sheet. If you are using a cookie sheet, be sure to leave a few inches between each cookie.

Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Make the icing by mixing together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Drizzle the icing over cooled cookies.

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Bananas! Zucchini! Chocolate! Oh my, did this recipe turn out well. For some unknown reason, this summer I  often find myself with an abundance of these three ingredients (yes, even chocolate) and a hankering to bake. Not too long ago I whipped up a batch of these little tasty muffins for a few pals. And boy were they a hit!

Omitting the oil and using applesauce instead made the muffins a bit less fat heavy, but not too worry...I ate enough of them to make up for it in the end.

Lately, I've been thinking of taking a survey to see what fall goodies folks would like me to make heading into the next season. There have been more than a few requests for another Foodie Fest (which we are long overdue for) and I'm thinking of doing a sweet 'n savory pie foodie fest sometime in October. Thoughts, anyone? And enjoy the recipe!

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins 

• 1 large ripe banana, mashed
• 1 1/2 c zucchini, shredded
• 1 3/4 c flour
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 3/4 c sugar 
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c applesauce 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp almond extract 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a muffin pan or line with paper cups.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In another medium bowl, mix together egg and sugar. Next add applesauce, vanilla and almond extracts, and mix well. Add in mashed banana and shredded zucchini. Then mix the dry ingredients into the wet until well incorporated. Finally, add the chocolate chips.

Bake for 11-15 minutes, depending upon muffin size. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack or the counter.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Holy hell, are these delicious. I literally had to give all of these away so as not to continuously eat them. The reason for their creation? A friend's birthday request for zucchini bread matched with my constant need for dark chocolate.

After some research, I stumbled across the recipe from College Baker Girl. Her online version was the closest match for what I was aiming for in my foodie quest. I tripled her original recipe and of course altered it for my personal tastes: less whole wheat flour with the addition of white flour, added brown sugar and almond extract, replaced the oil with cinnamon applesauce. Imagine fruity, sweet, filling, chocolaty, moist...yum.

Now, stop reading and check out your cupboard, see if you have the ingredients to make these. If not, off to the store with you! You can thank me later. Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Adapted From: College Baker Girl

• 1 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup white sugar 
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/8 tsp salt
• 3/8 tsp baking powder
• 9 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup milk, rice or almond works as an alternative milk
• 1 cup applesauce
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract 
• 2 1/4 cup shredded zucchini
• 6 tbsp dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tray.

In a large bowl combine the flours, sugars, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cocoa. Mix thoroughly.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, applesauce, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. Add the shredded zucchini and stir. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tray, filling each cup to the top and sprinkle with dark chocolate chips.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If making mini-muffins, bake 12-15 minutes.