Secret Recipe Club: Zucchini Cookies

It's yet another Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day. This is one of my favourite challenges as each month we are paired with a secret blog and we have to pick a recipe to make from that blog and reveal it on the same day. This month, I had the pleasure of looking through Secret Recipe Club's owner April's blog! She is a frugal wife and homeschooling mom who blogs at Angel's Homestead. As expected there are a lot of delicious, home style and frugal recipes on her blog.

April was born and raised in Southern Indiana where she now lives with her husband and children. She also spent many years in Chicago in her late teens and early 20's. Her passion is her family which shows through in her blog. She loves cooking and baking and documents her family’s efforts to live a simple, frugal and self-sufficient life.

I had a great time browsing through her recipes and shortlisting what I wanted to make. When I saw the zucchini (courgette) cookies, I knew I had to make them. I love baking with vegetables and have previously used zucchinis in a cake so I was curious to find out if it would work in a cookie form. Plus cookies are my favourite treat - yes more than cake! 

These cookies were absolutely delicious! I made a lot of cookies and they disappeared really quickly. You can actually see the zucchini in some of the cookies! It was a thin crispy cookie with a lovely spice and crunch of nuts. The chocolate helped to balance the flavours and the wholemeal made it feel healthy and virtuous. I used wholemeal flour instead of plain flour as I had some to hand and I thought it would work well with the flavours here. 

Other recipes that caught my eye were apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies, creamy lemon crumb squares, maple syrup pancake muffins and the BEST chocolate cake EVER (the title says it all for that one!)

 

 adding the grated zucchini

 adding pecan nuts and chocolate chips 

 WARNING - these cookies spread a lot so space them out properly 

 otherwise you get something like this 

 Thin crispy cookie! 

Recipe from Angel's Homestead

The only changes I made was to use wholemeal flour and to reduce the sugar amount. There may be a slight variation with the conversion 

225g butter

250g caster sugar

100g brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

375g wholemeal flour

1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1.5 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup peeled, grated zucchini - I used 1 medium sized zucchini as shown

1 cup chocolate chips - I used 200g which is just over 1 cup

1/2 cup chopped pecans - I used 90g which was just over 1/2 cup

• Preheat oven to 175C.
• Cream the butter and sugars. 
• Add eggs, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon, 
• Stir in grated zucchini.
• Add pecan nuts and chocolate chips. 
• Place 6 - 8 scoops of cookie dough on each tray (depending on size of your tray) as the cookies spread a LOT whilst baking. 
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and lightly browned on top. 
• Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Rosemary and walnut biscuits

This is a really simple recipe with great results. When I was brainstorming ideas for AlphaBakes 'R', I thought of raspberries, rhubarb and rosemary. I've already baked something with the first 2 ingredients so I started looking for recipes with rosemary. I had previously bookmarked a rosemary and parmesan biscuit but came across this on BBC Good Food and decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did as it turned out beautifully. The rosemary was really fragrant although a lot of people could not guess what it was initially. The taste is subtle but definitely present and complemented the walnuts. This is a lovely, buttery shortbread with the distinct aroma and flavour of rosemary and crunch of walnuts. 

As mentioned, I am entering this to AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month. This challenge is co-hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter for June 2013 is 'R' for rosemary. 

I very rarely get a chance to join in Herbs on Saturday hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage as I don't often bake with herbs so I'm really excited to participate this month. 

 rosemary & walnuts 

 cookie dough

knead in the chopped nuts 

 shape into a log and refrigerate

 slice and bake 

 delicious! 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

325g plain flour
200g salted butter
125g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
60g walnuts, chopped

• Put the flour and butter in a food processor and whizz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. 
• Add the sugar, egg yolks and rosemary and whizz to a dough. 
• Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead in the walnuts. 
• Shape into a log about 5cm across. 
• Wrap in plastic and chill for an hour.
• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas 4. 
• Slice the dough into biscuits and arrange on a buttered baking sheet. 
• Bake for 20 minutes then cool.

Rhubarb Custard Crumble Cake

My colleague has an abundance of rhubarb in her allotment this year and has been generously giving them out. I'm not a huge fan of rhubarb but decided I could bake something with it. I've seen rhubarb and custard cakes previously and whilst searching for a recipe I came across this rhubarb custard crumble cake which sounded heavenly. It's the perfect cross between cake and pudding and if you're indecisive like me, you get cake, custard and crumble all at once! 

The cake was absolutely delicious and received high praise at work. The sponge was light and moist and the custard layer sandwiched with rhubarb and crumble was divine. It's definitely changed my mind about rhubarb and I can't wait to make this again! 

Of course this fits in nicely with this month's AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month. The letter is R for rhubarb. Caroline from Caroline Makes is my co-host who will be hosting next month. 

I'm also sending this to Made with love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior. This cake is made entirely from scratch including the custard. 

Rhubarb is definitely in season currently so I'm also sending it to Simple and in Season hosted by Ren from Ren Behan.

 rhubarb... 

 ...coated in sugar 

 cooking the custard 

 ready to assemble the cake 

 start with a layer of custard on top of the sponge mix 

 add a layer of rhubarb 

 and finally the crumble mix 

 fresh from the oven 

 You can see the different layers in the cake - perfect with more custard or ice-cream or just on its own! 

Recipe from Bake for the Border

The only changes that I made was: 

1. To use 1 vanilla pod for the custard instead of vanilla extract 

2. To use approximately 350g rhubarb instead of 800g as that was all I had and it worked out fine. If you prefer more rhubarb and less cake then I would suggest halving the sponge recipe and using 700-800g rhubarb or use a very deep tin so all the layers will fit! 

Banana cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting

This is a quick and simple recipe and perfect if you have ripe bananas to use up. The yoghurt makes the cake really moist and slightly healthier to balance the peanut butter cream cheese frosting! You can of course eat these as muffins minus the frosting for a healthier snack.

I'm entering these to the Breakfast Club hosted by Elizabeth's Kitchen. The theme this month is high fibre and bananas contain soluble fiber. I know cupcakes are not traditional breakfast foods but I'd happily eat one for breakfast :) This challenge was created by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours.

I'm also entering these to Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Anneli from Delicieux this month. The challenge was created by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. This is a great recipe to use up leftover bananas and yoghurt.

 peanut butter, yoghurt, cream cheese, bananas 

 I found these cute chocolate banana sweets during my trip in Asia. They taste of banana and I think they look really cute on top of the cupcakes!

Makes 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes
155g plain flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas
150g yoghurt
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
140g caster sugar
113g butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk

For the frosting
185g icing sugar
200g cream cheese
113g butter
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add in the egg and then the egg yolk and mix well. 
• Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
• Alternate adding flour mixture and yoghurt to the mix.
• Add vanilla extract and mashed bananas.
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• To make the frosting, place all ingredients in an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

Carrot cake with orange cream cheese frosting

Carrot cake is one of my colleague's favourite cake. I kept promising to make one but I couldn't find my grater so I bought one but was then too busy to make the cake. Anyway, I finally got round to it and she declared this the best carrot cake she's eaten! It's a simple mix all in one recipe which had the right balance of spice, nuts, raisins and carrots. I think the olive oil added to the flavour and smoothness of the cake - I remember using it for an apple cake previously and decided to give it a try here. The icing on the cake (literally) was the orange cream cheese frosting. 

I'm entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted this month by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is layer cakes and this 2 layer cake will do nicely. 

I'm also sending it to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior as this cake is made from scratch and with plenty of love. 

And finally to Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Anneli from Delicieux this month. The challenge was created by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. This is a great recipe if you have leftover ingredients to use up as you can vary the fruit and nut mix of the recipe and if you're anything like me, you'll always have a carrot or two in the fridge!

wholemeal flour, olive oil, raisins, muscovado sugar, ground cinnamon, ground mixed spice, orange, cream cheese, pecans, carrots. 

 adding carrots, chopped roasted pecans and raisins to the mix

 ready to go in the oven

 2 layer cake

For the carrot cake

150ml olive oil

150g muscovado sugar 

3 eggs

220g wholemeal flour

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

zest of 1 orange

100g raisins

250g carrots, peeled and grated

100g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

For the orange cream cheese frosting

300g cream cheese

50g butter

150g icing sugar

zest of 1 orange

1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (depending on consistency of icing requred)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line 2 x 18cm sandwich tins. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar and eggs until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are slightly fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicabonate of soda and spices and add to the egg mixture.
• Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Divide the mixture evenly between 2 tins (I usually weigh them to get even sized cakes)
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back from the edge and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile make the frosting by beating all the ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Sandwich the cakes with frosting and spread a thick layer on top of the cake.
• Decorate with orange zest as shown or pecan nuts. 

Raspberry and pistachio financiers

I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages so I'm pleased that I finally got a chance to make them. I've seen financiers on a lot of blogs but have never made my own so when the letter for this month's AlphaBakes was chosen as 'R', I knew exactly what I was going to make. This is a recipe from Edd Kimber The Boy Who Bakes. I love the use of brown butter and pistachio in this recipe as it really makes this a special treat. The pistachios were really fragrant and paired well with the tart raspberries. The financiers were light, nutty and moist. An absolute treat! 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which is hosted by myself this month and Caroline from Caroline Makes on alternate months. The letter is R for raspberries. 

I'm also sending these to Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes for Bookmarked Recipes as I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages.

As raspberries are in season, I think they will also fit in nicely for Simple and in Season hosted by Ren from Ren Behan.

This is my second entry to Four Seasons Food  challenge as raspberries are in season and these little treats are perfectly portable for a picnic. The theme is Picnic Food & Outdoor Nibbles. This challenge is hosted this month by Anneli from Delicieux and on alternate months by Louisa from Chez Foti.

I've just noticed that this month's One ingredient challenge is raspberries which is perfect for this recipe too! I've not participated for a few months so it's fortuitous that Nazima from Franglais Kitchen who is hosting this month chose raspberries for June. This challenge is co-hosted by Laura from How To Cook Good Food.

 pistachio nuts, ground almonds, raspberries 

 My lovely financier mould which has been sitting in my cupboard for months!

 ground pistachio nuts and icing sugar 

 ready to go in the oven 

 yum! 

Recipe reproduced with permission from the author

Makes 12
120g butter
100g pistachio nuts
120g icing sugar
50g ground almonds
50g flour
pinch of salt
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 raspberries
Icing sugar to serve

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Put the butter in a medium pan set over medium heat and cook swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a medium brown.
• Remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve into a small bowl 
• Put the pistachio nuts and icing sugar into the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. 
• In a medium bowl mix together the pistachio nut mixture, almonds, flour and salt. 
• Add the egg whites and vanilla and mix together.
• Mix in the warmed brown butter a little at a time until combined.
• Divide the financier batter evenly between the muffin cups and top each with 2 raspberries, pushing them in slightly.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until springy to the touch and lightly browned around the edges. 
• Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely 
• Dust with icing sugar to serve.