Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zucchini bread tastes great but sometimes I'd like to make something else with the abundance of squash that I buy at the farmer's market or receive as a gift from friends and neighbors. This recipe is a great solution to not only use up your zucchini in a unique way, but also to sneak in some extra nutrition to your cookies. If you are concerned about picky eaters detecting the flecks of green, you could use yellow zucchini instead because it would be less visibly noticeable. Regardless, these cookies are very moist and flavorful. I found the recipe several years ago when I read Barbara Kingsolver's book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.” (Fabulous book by the way – I would definitely recommend reading it.) Please leave me a comment about the cookies, Barbara Kingsolver's book, or just books in general because I am an avid reader and always looking for a recommendation.


Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup zucchini, shredded
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour (either unbleached white flour or a 1:1 ratio of whole wheat pastry flour)
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ to 1 cup chocolate chips (to your liking)

Set the butter out on the counter to soften. Shred the zucchini either in a food processor or by hand with a cheese grater over a bowl. Grab a fistful of squash and squeeze it out over the bowl and then place it in the measuring cup, repeating until you have one cup of shredded and drained zucchini. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a spatula. Add the egg, honey, and vanilla; mix well. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, combining well. Mix in the zucchini and then fold in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the bottoms are a delicate, golden brown. When you store these cookies, separate layers with parchment or waxed paper because their moist nature makes them stick together.


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