Zucchini Bread w/ Icing

Source: The Family Kitchen

1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 c. zucchini, grated
1 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking powder
2 1/4 c. white flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Simple Icing Glaze
1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy.  

Add all remaining ingredients and mix together well.  

In a second, smaller bowl, stir together the ingredients for the glaze until smooth.

To make full-sized bread loaves:  Spoon batter into a large bread tin that has been lined with parchment paper, or generously greased and floured.  

Notice the wax paper? Wax paper IS NOT the same as parchment paper. Once the wax paper started smoking in the oven I pulled it out and sprayed the tin with cooking spray.

Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 42-45 minutes, or until the top of the bread springs back when pressed lightly with the finger.  Cool before glazing.  Makes 1 large loaf.

Well I’m not a huge fan of zucchini or banana bread so I wasn’t too excited about this. It was moist but it wasn’t fluffy. My roommate and sous chef said it was good though. My sous chef recommends warming it up with butter!

Zucchini Bread Whoopie Pies

Source: Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients

½ stick butter, room temp.

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla

1 cup finely grated zucchini

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup flour

1 ¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Icing

2 TBS butter, room temp

4 oz cream cheese, room temp

½ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp vanilla

Directions

1.     Combine butter, applesauce and sugars and mix for 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix.

2.     Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt and sift together.

3.     Add the dry mix to the wet mix in batches until all is mixed together.

4.     Add zucchini and mix.

5.     Add oats and mix.

6.     Preheat to 350 degrees.

7.     Line baking sheet with parchment paper and drop 1 TBS size balls on the sheet.

8.     Bake for 10 minutes.

9.     Frosting: Combine all ingredients and mix until light and fluffy.

10.   Let cookies cool on a cooling rack. Once cooled, spread or pipe icing between two cookies.

These were interesting and the more I ate the more I liked them. I definitely recommend frosting them, they can be a little dry if you don’t because the texture is mix between cookie and bread. Besides the frosting they are definitely healthier than your average cookie. Another idea I keep having is to put raisins in them! My sous chef dislikes raisins but maybe next time I will put them in half of the batch.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, Softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2-¼ cups flour

¾ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoons cream of tartar

½ teaspoons salt

1 cup Greek yogurt

¼ cups Buttermilk (optional or make your own) http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm

FOR THE TOPPING:

⅔ cups sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

1.       Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a muffin tin with liners.

2.       In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.

3.       In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

4.       Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the greek yogurt and buttermilk and mix to combine. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter.

5.       In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

6.       Roll together 2” diameter cookie dough balls and roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

7.       Bake for 15-18 minutes or until they are just baked through. I went on the short side so that they were doughier.

I made these for a work bake sale and they were pretty popular. I didn’t use any buttermilk (because I didn’t have any) and I think that was okay. I also substituted greek yogurt for sour cream. They tasted just how you would imagine they would taste: snickerdoodle muffinsI will definitely make this recipe again!

Baked Eggs with Crispy Hash Brown Crust

Ingredients

1 1/2 – 2 cups fresh shredded potato (about 4 medium sized red potatoes)

1/2 tsp salt

6 eggs

3/4 cup shredded cheese (sharp cheddar or sharp white cheddar recommended)

2 Tbsp olive oil for cast iron skillet

Directions

1. Make the hash browns. Start by scrubbing your potatoes clean. Then shred them in your food processor or on a cheese grater. Toss 1.5-2 cups with salt and then press out all the moisture. This is time consuming and uses a lot of paper towels but the more moisture you get out, the crispier your hash browns will be.  
2. Put some olive oil on the bottom of a cast iron skillet and turn to medium-high heat. Once warmed up, throw your moisture-less shredded taters on the skillet. Press them down and let them cook for 3-4 minutes. If they start burning turn down your heat a bit.
3. After 3-4 minutes, flip the hash browns. The idea is that they will be stuck together and flat like a pancake but that isn’t how mine turned out…so just flip them every 3-4 minutes until they are to your crispy-liking.  
4. Remove from heat, crack the six eggs  over the hash browns. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the cheese on top and broil in the oven for 5-7 minutes. The longer you broil the less runny your eggs will be.
5. Top with green onions!

I made this for Miss Shannon, Dani and Ian when Shan came to visit in Portland and totally forgot to put it on the blog! It turned out great and we finished it easily. However, if I made it again I would definitely add some things to it. I would definitely add some breakfast sausage or bacon. Other ideas are onions, bell peppers and mushrooms (if you like them, ew).