Zucchini Bread Simple & delicious

Zucchini Bread

This recipe for basic zucchini bread is my tried and true.  It works every time.  It's delicious. It has less sugar than it used to and I don't miss it. It's got more zucchini than most recipes.  It freezes well.  It's sturdy and is even more delicious topped with tarragon chicken salad served as a light lunch or as an hors d'oeuvre. 

If my zucchini bread ever needed a profile for a dating site.. there you have it. It's all good.. you should make it yours. 

Jojo's Zucchini Bread

Dry Ingredients:

3¼ cups ap flour (whole wheat white is what we prefer)

1½ teaspoons salt (I use Kosher)

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1½ cups of sugar

Wet Ingredients: 

1 cup of Olive Oil (or Coconut oil .. but be sure to warm it to liquid state)

4 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup of water

3 cups of zucchini, grated on a box grater

zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon lemon juice (juice after zesting!) 

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat Oven to 350º

Butter or spray (2) 9x5" loaf pans or (5) mini loaf pans. Sprinkle buttered pans with sugar, emptying out excess. (Sugar is optional.. I like it because it gives a crunch to the crust.)

Whisk together all dry ingredients (except nuts if adding) in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix together wet ingredients, then fold into the dry.  Add nuts or add ins*

Bake 1 hour or until done.  (Tester comes out clean, no wet batter) 

*Add ins.... 

Besides walnuts ... You can also try pecans, pistachios, raisins, chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, dried coconut flakes, chopped dried apricots or figs, chopped crystallized ginger or some combination thereof. To start, keep the add-ins to a cup or less. 

Note.. Often this bread takes me 10-15 minutes more baking time.  This is depending on oven, pans, etc...  Always test the center. 

A cake to call her own | Yogurt Cake (gâteau au yaourt)

Reading Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting.. I came across this recipe for children.  Gâteau au Yaourt (Yogurt Cake) French children age 2-3ish that bake this cake made of yogurt using the yogurt cups as measuring.  

Well, Miss Scarlett turned 4 this week and I thought, we better do this already!  I mean she bakes with me all the time since very very young but never this recipe and something of her "own".  Anyway, it was fun.  I set up her table with the bowls and measuring and recipe and stood back and let her at it.  She opened the containers and measured the spoons and cups.  (The measuring doesn't have to be exact and it still will come out fine.)  So, no micro-managing.. just help and let them do it.  It was fun, she loved it and I highly recommend it.  The cake is delish, not too sweet and we added some frozen berries, her choice... huckleberries that I had picked in the fall.. and it is quite lovely with coffee in the morning, super moist.  Coffee, being for mama.  This is a good basic cake recipe I will keep in my repertoire . kids or not, definitely easy and worth making. 

Note:  The original recipe did not have vanilla extract or berries.. but we love both and are glad we added them!  I also opted for a healthy coconut oil and organic ingredients. If you choose chocolate over berries, I would decrease sugar to 3/4 cup. (we made it with the berries and used only 3/4 cup of sugar.. but I don't like sweet sweets and cut back where I can)

The original recipe uses the yogurt cups as measuring.. but we buy our yogurt in large containers, so that didn't work for us.. we just used measuring cups, which was fine for her.  I included the recipe both ways.  

Also, when pre-heating the oven, I place the glass jar or container of solid coconut oil in and carefully remove after a few minutes when melted.  This was the one step Scarlett wasn't able to do (duh).. pour the warm oil or mix it in.  And of course, she did not go near the oven.  (double duh)  On that note... You could always use a different oil that doesn't need to be warmed and the child could handle.  Again, this recipe is a great basic one that can be altered and changed to suit your needs.  Have fun and let your little one!    

French Yogurt Cake for Bébé

(2) 8oz containers of greek yogurt (plain)

2 eggs

(1) yogurt container of sugar (or 1 cup) or less :)

1/3 c. coconut oil, warmed and liquid

1 t. vanilla extract

(2) yogurt containers of flour (or 2 cups)

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. sea salt

(1) yogurt container of frozen berries or chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375º 

Coat a 9" round or loaf pan with cooking spray. (We chose a heart shape)

In a large bowl combine yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla.  In another bowl, whisk together  dry ingredients.  

Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, stir til just combined.. DON'T overmix, it doesn't need to be smooth.. is actually better if lumpy and barely mixed. 

Stir in frozen berries of choice or chocolate chips.

Bake 35-45min. until golden and a tester comes out clean and cake is set.  Cool 10 min. in pan and then turn out onto rack and cool completely. 

 So proud!

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

With the holidays and baking season upon us, these cookies are amazing just to have on hand and they package up beautifully for an easy, delicious last-minute gift, should you need one.  

Hershey's cocoa powder (unsweetened) works fine here if you don't have any dutch-processed cocoa powder on hand.  Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out the dough and roll into a ball in your palm, then drop into a sanding sugar..  Easy and the cookies come out very round and uniform. Meaning, perty! .. so don't forget to mention they are homemade to get some well-due credit!

(adapted from Martha Stewart Cookies)

Chewy Chocolate Cookies  

2 cups + 2 T. all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
sanding sugar (I used organic sugar) for rolling

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined, then reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add in the flour mixture until just combined.

Form the dough into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Scoop the dough into 1¼ inch balls, drop and roll each ball in the sanding sugar.   I used an organic sugar which is slightly brown-hued..  the sugar comes out sparkling in the end.  Raw sugar would work well here, also.  

Place (with room to spread) on a cookie sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are set. They will still look a bit gooey when removed from the oven. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes then remove from the cookie sheet and cool completely.