Chocolate and Peanut Butter Zucchini Cake

We didn't have a garden this year, but Justin was gifted a bunch of zucchini from a coworker.  It just so happens that we'd seen Lidia Bastianich's show "Lidia's Kitchen" a few days before this where she'd made a chocolate zucchini cake.  I was just going to follow her recipe, but when I went looking for it online, it was nowhere to be found.  I assume it was because it was a recent episode and they want you to buy the cookbook.  I found a few other recipes online but they called for ingredients I didn't have so... I decided to come up with my own recipe.

I used to like to say I'm not much of a baker, but I guess our blog would actually prove me wrong.  I've been doing more and more baking and have become fairly adept at it.  Still, it's not like cooking where you can just add random ingredients here and there.  My problem is that I still try to do that with my baking and so it doesn't always come out stellar and I don't always have a recipe to post.  This recipe, however, came out great!  Woohoo!  It's moist, but light.  Somewhere in between cake and brownies.  

Let's listen to The Interrupters "On A Turntable"  -jen

CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER ZUCCHINI CAKE
Prep Time:  15 minutes
Cook Time:  50 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  18-24

• 2 + 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 + 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temp
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 1 large or 2 medium)
• 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. 

In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

In another large mixing bowl, using a stand mixer or electric beater, beat sugar, butter and oil until smooth.  Add eggs 1 at a time and vanilla and beat until combined.  Alternately add 1 cup of dry ingredients with half of the almond milk, and repeat until mixed, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix in grated zucchini and fold in chocolate chips.  Spread batter evenly into prepared baking dish.

In a small dish, microwave peanut butter for about 30 seconds, until smooth and melted.  Spread about 5 thin rows of peanut butter across the top of the batter running them short-wise.  Using a butter knife, drag 4 rows lightly through the peanut butter going long-wise, first in one direction, then the next, to create a pretty design.  (Or just swirl, it doesn't matter!)

Bake at 325 F for about 50 minutes.  Test the center by inserting a clean knife.  If it comes out clean, the cake is done.  Cool on a wire rack.  Slice into 18 large slices or 24 small slices.

Cranberry Cheese Squares

I've had a huge bag of cranberries in my freezer since Christmas (and it's April), so I decided it was about time I used them in something.  I'd considered doing cranberry cheesecake, but decided to cross cheesecake with bars instead.  (I like bars!)  They came out so good, that I made another batch with the remaining cranberries to send with Justin to work so he could share (and double-checking my recipe writing!)

The topping and crust is a little salty, the cream cheese filling is lemony and the cranberry sauce is tart with a cinnamon and vanilla warmth.  All three layers just seem to compliment each other so nicely, I was way pleased with this recipe!  It's a little time consuming but I've made them twice now and they're really not that hard - you just have to dedicate some time to them.

Justin was feeling like something early from The Offspring.  "Jennifer Lost The War" from their 1989 self titled album.  This was actually the first time I've heard this song, I think.  -jen

CRANBERRY CHEESE SQUARES
Prep Time:  45 minutes
Cook Time:  40 minutes
Cooling Time:  minimum 2 hours
Difficulty:  Medium
Makes:  20 bars

Cranberry Sauce:

• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2 tablespoons corn starch

 Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1.5 cups rolled oats (also known as old fashioned oats)
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

 Cheese Filling:

• 8oz cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  

Make the cranberry sauce first by bringing water, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt to a boil in a large sauce pan.  Add cranberries and bring back to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring intermittently - cranberries will pop and begin to break down.  (Careful not to let it boil over!)  Remove from heat and refrigerate to cool while you continue with the other steps.  

Grease a 13"x 9" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, butter or coconut oil.  Set aside.

For the crust, combine the flour, oats, pecans, brown sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.  Stir in melted butter and coconut oil until combined and all flour is absorbed.  Mixture should be slightly clumpy but break up easily.  Set aside 1.5 cups for topping but spread the remaining mixture into your prepared baking dish, pressing it evenly into the bottom of the pan.  Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.  Set aside.

While crust is baking and sauce is cooling, make the cheese filling.  Using a hand mixer or the whipping attachment on your stand mixer, whip the softened cream cheese on high for 2-3 minutes until very smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly on high until smooth (remember to scrape the bottom).

Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over your baked crust.  Stir in corn starch to cooled cranberry sauce, then gently dollop  over the top of the filling and gently spread it evenly with the back of a spoon, trying not to mix it into the cheese filling.  Sprinkle the remaining flour and oat mixture evenly over the top.  Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving.  I like to refrigerate them overnight.

Buttermilk Corn Bread Waffles

I'd been thinking about corn bread several times over the last few weeks, but hadn't really had anything lined up in the menu that sounded good with corn bread.  But when Justin took all of the Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits to work with him this morning, it didn't leave us with anything to eat with our leftover chicken pot pie filling.   My first instinct was to just bake some corn bread, but as I was whipping up a batter, I decided some crispy waffles sounded way better.

VERY COOL NOTE:  I actually learned something cool and healthy as I was making these - you can use ground up flax seeds mixed with water to substitute eggs!  My recipe requires 2 eggs and of course, midway through making the recipe with all my dry ingredients mixed, I realized I only had 1 egg in the fridge.  I figured I could use a little extra butter to kind of substitute it, and after Googling, that is an option, but another option I found sounded way cooler.  1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons water substitutes 1 egg... thank you very much, vegans!  It's probably not a good substitute for most people because I imagine most people don't keep flax seeds on hand.  We, however, often have some in our freezer for making granola.
(This site I found has a list of 5 Egg Substitutes - great resource!)

I also recognize that most people don't keep buttermilk in their fridge like we do.  You could make this recipe with whole milk, but you have to do a little more adjusting than just that.  Do not use baking soda, but instead add 2 additional teaspoons of baking powder for a total of 3 teaspoons.  Buttermilk has a higher acid content and needs the baking soda in baking applications.  It's science... you heard?

I'm listening to Lagwagon's "Razor Burn" as I am typing this sentence, so that's the rock I'm going with.  -jen

BUTTERMILK CORN BREAD WAFFLES
Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time:  25-30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  5-6 waffles

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar (2 tbsp if you like your corn bread less sweet)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (or 2 tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 6 tbsp water)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (or melted coconut oil)

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda and salt.

In a small mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.  Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients all at once.  Mix just until all dry ingredients are combined.  Spoon into waffle maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.  (Mine cooked in 5 minutes.)

Note:  If you wanted to just bake corn bread using this recipe, just grease a square (9"x9") baking dish, pour in batter and bake in an oven preheated to 400 F for 15-20 minutes.

Served with chicken pot pie filling

Banana Nut Granola

I had this craving for banana granola the other day and wasn't even sure if such a thing existed!  Well it does now!  Came out real tasty, not super sweet (we don't dig super sweet granola).  So much cheaper to make your own than to buy it, even when you can get it in the bulk bins, it's not this cheap.  I got all the oats, nuts, seeds and pumpkin chips out of the bulk bins at my local store and spent about $5 for the whole thing - it filled 3.5 quart-sized Mason jars.  Bueno!

The thing I like about making your own granola is that you can put whatever you want in it, really.  Whatever nuts you like.  Whatever seeds you like.  It's a good way to experiment with stuff you haven't tried before.  Coconut, puffed rice, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.

We've used the Bouncing Souls a few times with our recipes, but I've been listening to a lot of their later albums the last few days and it's just what's in my head.  So I'm using them again.  "Gasoline".  -jen

BANANA NUT GRANOLA
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:  30-40 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 10 cups

• 6 cups old fashioned oats
  
• 1 cup banana chips
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds
• 2/3 cup chopped cashews
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
• 1/2 cup flax seed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup (or honey)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• parchment paper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place banana chips in a quart size Ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to smack the bag and break them up a little.

In a large bowl, combine oats, broken banana chips, coconut, almonds, cashews, pecans, pepitas, flax seed, salt and cinnamon.  Stir to combine.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine bananas, brown sugar, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and sesame oil. Using a stick blender, puree mixture.  (If you don't have a stick blender, you can use a food processor, a stand mixer or a hand mixer.)

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until completely coated.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spread half of the oat mix onto each pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring the granola every 10 minutes.  Granola should be golden brown.  Keep an eye on it, it can start burning quickly towards the end.

Let granola cool and store in an airtight container.

Uses:  mix with yogurt, eat with milk or almond milk like cereal, put in cookies, stir into your waffle or pancake batter, sprinkle on ice cream.