Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe

In my zucchini abundance, I was able to find the perfect recipe to soothe my "it's rainy out and I really feel like baking" urge. This recipe from Tasty Kitchen is out of this world amazing! I'm not a great cake baker--they tend to turn out too dry or too boring or too flat. But this recipe is spot on! and uber simple! 

The original recipe included a delicious-looking frosting, but I opted to sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar. I'm convinced no one minded! Each piece was amazingly moist and wonderfully chocolately! I brought the lovely tube cake to a get-together with 2 of my friends and their gaggle of children, and everyone devoured their pieces. I barely got to take a slice home for my husband (who always proclaimed it's praises!)  One of the 8 year old boys even said, "This cake is AMAZING!"

See? I told you it was a winner!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe

recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk*

2-1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips 

Directions

*to sour the milk, add 1 Tbsp lemon juice to milk. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt or tube pan. 

In a large bowl, cream together butter, oil, and sugar. Add in eggs, vanilla, and milk and beat until evenly combined. Sprinkle in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and stir on low until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a lightly greased bundt pan (or two 8″ cake pans or a 9×13″ pan) and bake for 55-60 minutes (reduce time for other pans), or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for a few minutes before running knife around the edge to loosen. Remove to a rack to cool completely.

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Grilled Zucchini Sandwich Recipe

So, you have a lot of zucchini laying around? And you've made enough zucchini bread to last you a lifetime? Well, then, friend, this sandwich is calling your name. I have been on a grilled (literally on the grill) sandwich kick lately, and it is unbelievable delicious. Those grill marks, the crisp edges, the melted insides. You can't make this stuff up, people. Please grill some sandwiches for me.

But back to the zucchini.

I never would have thought of forming a sandwich around something like sliced zucchini, but I am so glad a friend of mine posted on Facebook about it. I hope you'll enjoy this use of zucchini too!

Grilled Zucchini Sandwich 

recipe by adorkablerecipes.blogspot.com

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 slices rye bread*

butter

Miracle Whip

6 slices zucchini

1 slice onion

2-3 slices tomato

shredded mozzarella

grated Parmesan 

garlic powder

*I think Rye bread makes this sandwich come alive, but you may use whatever bread you love. 

Directions

Spread 1 side of each slice of bread with a thin layer of butter. On the opposite side of one slice of bread, spread desired amount of Miracle Whip. On the opposite side of the second slice of bread, sprinkle generous amounts of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. 

Layer zucchini, onion, and tomato on the cheese-topped slice of bread. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Top with Miracle-Whipped slice of bread. 

Preheat your outdoor grill to medium-high heat. Place sandwich directly on the grilling grate and cook 5 minutes before turning to the second side. Cook until cheese is melted and both sides are golden and crisp. Slice in half and serve. 

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Baked Summer Squash Fries

With the abundance of squash in this summer's harvest, I wanted a fun way to incorporate the vegetable into our evening meal. When I came across Two Pea's Zucchini Fries recipe, I knew I had been inspired. I altered a few ingredients, assuming the method would work well for squash as it did for zucchini. It was total success!! Kevin and I loved these so much, they comprised our entire meal and I had to make a second batch! You can't beat eating baked fresh vegetables for dinner! 

This is a perfect side dish or a great party appetizer. Fun to dip in marinara or ranch dressing, everyone will love these! 

Baked Summer Squash Fries 

recipe by adorkablerecipes.blogspot.com adapted from twopeasandtheirpod.com

serves 2

Ingredients

2 medium yellow summer squash, sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch thick rounds

1 large egg, beaten

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

salt 

pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a shallow bowl, beat egg until light and frothy. 

In a second shallow bowl, stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan, oregano, garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper. 

Working in assembly line fashion, take one squash slice, dip it in egg to coat, then gently dip it in bread crumb mixture to coat on both sides. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Continue until all slices are battered and arranging on the baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn each slice over. Bake another 10 minutes. 

Serve with pasta sauce or ranch dressing. 

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Harvest Soup

I found this recipe on Stephanie's famous blog--A Year of Slow Cooking. If you ever need ideas for what or how to cook in your crockpot, you must check this site out. She has just recently published a slow cooking cookbook--way to go, Stephanie! Anyways, I was searching for (wonderful) ways to utilize the massive amount of fresh produce in my fridge. (Hint: I have found the produce stays uber fresh if you keep it in Snapware or other sealable storage containers. I'm talking weeks here, people. Which is awesome, since it's just the two of us, and I hate to see good food go to waste.) The most recent recipe on her blog was just perfect. It was delicious. And nutritious. And super easy. You must try it! However, you must have a love of zucchini and yellow squash and tomatoes and white beans and onions. Otherwise you will be sadly disappointed. :) I just had leftovers for lunch together and it's even tastier than the first time around!

(I cut Stephanie's recipe in half and made a few other alterations to better suite our needs...and I still have 2 bowls leftover!)

Ingredients

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or broth)

1/2 cup pasta sauce (prego works well)

1/2 cup water (or a little more...to just cover the veggies.)

2 zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/3 cup dry white beans

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low 8-10 hours or until beans have reached tenderness. If you don't have 8-10 hours before your dinner, do what I did--cook the beans stovetop* and add to the crockpot. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese--delish!

*rinse beans and place in a 2-3 qt. pot. Cover with water and bring to a rolling boil. Uncover and continue boiling for 2 minutes. Turn down to low and simmer (covered) for 1-2 hours--until tender. You may need to add additional water once boiling has taken place. Water should continue to cover the beans throughout cooking.

Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey Sausage

I came across a fantastic new food blog called Simply Recipes and one of the featured recipes recently was this stuffed zucchini. Seeing as how I had 4 large zucchini in the fridge that I found for $0.10 each at Ciolino's I knew I needed some unique ways to use them...you know methods other than "mix with loads of sugar and flour and eggs and make into an amazing loaf of goodness." This was simple to put together and I had all the ingredients on hand (minus the fresh herbs, but I substituted dry ones.). It was really tasty. The zucchini flavor is not at all overpowering...in fact the flavors are quite mild. I'm not sure I would add the egg next time simply because it made the insides taste more like a breakfast casserole than I would have liked. Also, don't forget you can alter the spices to your liking and, if you love cheese as much as we do, you can add some shredded Muenster (or other variety) to the turkey mixture. I hope you, too, will enjoy this healthy meal.

1 zucchini about 12 inches long, or 6 medium ones

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

2 tablespoons dry white wine

1 pound ground turkey

2 diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving shells about 1/4 inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.

Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides, and sauté another 2 minutes.

In a separate skillet heat a Tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground turkey. Lightly brown the turkey, stirring only occasionally. After the turkey browns on one side, stir it so that it has a chance to brown on other sides. Cook until the ground turkey is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in the onion and mushroom mixture from the other pan. Add the wine. Stir in tomato, basil and rosemary and cook 1 minute longer. Drain any excess fat. Remove mixture from heat and set it aside.

When mixture has cooled, add cheese, egg, salt and pepper. Fill zucchini shells with mixture. Fill a baking pan with 1/4 inch of water. Place filled zucchini halves in pan and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove zucchini from pan and serve while hot.

Serves 4.

Zucchini Bread

This recipe was passed on to me by my wonderful mother-in-law who knew this was one of my favorite breads and has made it for me often. It's delicious and just spicy enough and perfectly moist. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini (you can freeze shredded zucchini and save for later use...like today!)
1 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional, I leave out)

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 2 loaf pans.
In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy.
Stir in sugar, zucchini, oil and vanilla.
In separate mixing bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients with a wisk.
Add dry mixture slowly into wet ingredients until thoroughly incorporated.
Pour batter into greased pans.
Bake 60 minutes.
Cool in pans then turn out to serve.

Loaves can be frozen.