Excess Zucchini?

Recently, on my facebook wall, I posted a recipe for people with too much zucchini.  And just in case you were wondering, I got two zucchini this year.  I think rabbits ate the blossoms.  My facebook friend and colleague, Joan, replied that she would gladly accept the role of taster.  One good thing about working in a nutrition department is there are always people around to eat.  

I decided to take the challenge and bake the zucchini bread just for Joan.  So I went off in search of free zucchini.  Why buy zucchini?  I attempted to get someone to pay me for taking it, but that didn’t fly.  

After tasting the bread, Joan declared, “It’s healthy”.  My reply, “What’s wrong with that?”.  If you want to join Joan in eating healthy zucchini bread, click on the hyperlink above.    

Yes, it's healthy!

If you get a chance, let us know how you are using your zucchini supply.

Whole Wheat Bread

For years I told my students that 100% whole wheat bread was extremely difficult if not impossible to make.  Well, one year, a student decided to challenge me.  One day after class, she brought up a slice of 100% homemade whole wheat bread that her family makes.  Needless to say, it was quite tasty with a very smooth texture.  I was impressed, but still not convinced.  Sometimes it takes a little more to get some of us to move, change, etc.

I had to make whole wheat bread for a 4-H project I was working on.  I was going to prove my student wrong!  I found the perfect recipe on King Arthur flour website (http://bit.ly/rqAR0U).  It used all whole wheat flour, no white flour, no eggs, no potato, just whole wheat.   I decided to give it a try.  What to my surprise, when the bread turned out just fine.  It raised and I got a beautiful loaf of bread. 

Before you think of me as a little old fashioned and stuck in my ways, I do have a valid scientific reason for believing that you could not make a good loaf of 100% whole wheat bread.  Whole wheat flour contains fiber, which we all need to consume more of.  Fiber is good, but it plays havoc with gluten.  Gluten is the protein that stretches and traps the air, thus allowing the bread to raise.  Fiber pokes holes in gluten, which makes a denser loaf of bread.  So imagine my surprise when I got a good loaf of bread.

My colleague and I decided that maybe the method for grinding whole wheat flour has improved allowing fiber to have less negative effect on the gluten.  I also tried to make this bread with graham flour and it did not work.  The bread was dense, did not raise very much, and the flavor was bad.  Graham flour is the same as whole wheat flour, but has a coarser texture.

For this posting, I made two breads.  One I made according to the recipe on King Arthur flour website.  For the second loaf, I substituted ½ cup of whole wheat flour with the same amount of all purpose flour. 

Give either one or both a try.  Let us know how they turn out.

Left to Right:  Whole Wheat Flour; All Purpose Flour; Graham Flour

Christmas Cookies - Day 9

Pecan Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

¾ cup sugar, divided

¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. Cream butter, ½ cup sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Stir in pecans.

3. Divide dough in half. Using lightly floured hands, shape each into a 6-inch long log. Wrap each log in wax paper and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to to 350°F.

5. Unwrap dough and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Combine the remaining ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon on a shallow plate. Roll logs in the sugar mixture. Slice each log into 24 pieces, about ¼-inch thick. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.


Makes 48 cookies.

Christmas Cookies - Day 7

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies


Ingredients:

¾ cup butter

1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon espresso powder, optional

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅓ cup light corn syrup

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 large eggs

2¼ cups whole wheat flour

2⅔ cups (16 ounce) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

1. In a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, stir in the sugar. Heat until the mixture is just beginning to bubble. Remove from burner or microwave, transfer to a medium bowl, and allow to cool to lukewarm.

2. Stir in vanilla, salt, baking soda, espresso powder (if using), baking powder, corn syrup, and vinegar. Add eggs, beating well after each addition, then the flour, stirring to combine, and finally mix in the chips. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line them with parchment paper.

4. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake two sheets at a time, reversing the pans midway through, until they are just beginning to brown around the edges, 12 to 13 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets, place on cooling rack.

Source: King Arthur Flour Company