Whole Wheat Frosted Zucchini Brownies

We didn't plant a garden this year because I knew I simply wouldn't have time to tend to it. I really love fresh veggies from the garden, but even without my own, I wouldn't be out of luck this summer. My dad is a habitual over-planter. There are always plenty of extra zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, etc to go around when he starts harvesting. This year is no exception, and his zucchini are beautiful and ready for picking. On a visit last weekend, my parents brought me four zucchini, and as soon as I saw this recipe, I knew exactly what I'd be doing with two of them!

Nicole already made one adjustment that I normally do in baking, which is to replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour. I took it a step further and used my favorite sugar adjustment - evaporated cane juice. I loved her suggestion of using applesauce instead of oil, but decided to go for the glory on the first try, and use that one later if I make them again. I reduced the sugar to 1 cup, as she suggested, but after a quick sampling of the final batter, decided that was too little and added 1/4 cup more. It was definitely an interesting batter to work with, and they turned out to sort of be a cross between cake and brownie. No matter what you call them, though, they certainly are delicious!

These brownies are well on their way to being a great dessert for clean eaters, and it almost pained me to pour the full-of-powdered-sugar frosting on top. The frosting is quite sweet and is a fabulous complement to the brownies, but I was hoping for something a little more healthy. The good news is that I might have just the right frosting recipe! It's been waiting on the sidelines, for just the right companion to come along. I will definitely be making these brownies again to test out this (hopefully) great match!

Whole Wheat Frosted Zucchini Brownies

Source: Slightly adapted from Prevention RD
Yield: 30 brownies





Ingredients
For the brownies:

• 1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
• 1 1/4 cups evaporated cane juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup (dutch processed, if available) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups zucchini, shredded (about 2 zucchini)

For the frosting:

• 6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup nonfat milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking dish, or line with parchment.
2. In a large bowl mix together oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until well blended. In another bowl combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. A little at a time stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in zucchini. Note: the batter will be dry and crumbly. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool.
4. To make the frosting, melt together the cocoa powder and butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl blend confectioner’s sugar, milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir in the butter/cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies and cut into squares. Refrigerate 1-2 hours to set.

Salsa Verde Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Since my last 6 posts have been decadent desserts, I guess it's time to give you a delicious, clean, easy meal to get back on track. This is another great recipe where you let the crockpot do most of the work. Slow cooking the chicken with tomatillo salsa gives it great flavor without drying it out. I chose to make my own salsa verde and corn tortillas, but you can also use store bought to make this dish even easier.

We loved the combination of flavors here - bright red onion, creamy cojita cheese, earthy black beans, and of course the wonderful salsa verde. It's a new favorite of ours!

Salsa Verde Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Source: Slightly adapted from The Novice Chef
Yield: 4 servings





Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken breasts
• 3 cups medium salsa verde, divided (recipe follows)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

For the tacos

• 8-10 corn tortillas
• 1 can black beans
• 1 jalapeno, stem removed (remove seeds if you don't like the heat)
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese
• lime, for squeezing on top

Directions:

1. Whisk together 1 cup salsa verde, chicken broth and garlic salt in crockpot. Add chicken breasts and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
   
2. Combine black beans (do not rinse/drain) and jalapeno in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium-low until beans are cooked and pepper has softened, about 8-10 minuted. Puree in a food processor or blender.
   
3. Remove chicken from crockpot and discard remaining liquid. Shred chicken with two forks and place in a medium bowl. (You can also shred chicken by beating on low spead in a stand mixer for about 30 seconds - works great and is very quick!) Add remaining 2 cups salsa verde and chopped cilantro to chicken. Mix to combine.
   
4. Fill tortillas with a scoop of black beans, a scoop of chicken, a few slices of red onion, a healthy scoop of crumbled cotija cheese and a squeeze of lime!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Source: slightly adapted from Rick Bayless
Yield: about 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds (12 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• Fresh hot green chiles to taste (3 serranos or 3 jalapenos), stemmed
• 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (thick bottom stems cut off), roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 small white onion, finely chopped
• Salt

Directions:
Roast the tomatillos, chile(s) and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until blotchy black and softening (they’ll be turning from lime green to olive), about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side. Cool, then transfer everything to a blender, including all the delicious juice the tomatillos have exuded during roasting. Add the cilantro and water, then blend to a coarse puree. Scoop into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually 1 teaspoon.

Reese's Cheesecake Brownie Bites

The dessert gods where smiling down on my husband the day this recipe graced my computer screen. He's not much of a sweets guy, but he does love peanut butter cups, cheesecake, and brownies. What would be more perfect for him, than one dessert that combines all three? I couldn't wait to make it, and neither could he!

There's a lot to love here - chewy, fudgy brownie topped with rich, peanut buttery cheesecake, decorated with drizzled chocolate and Reese's Pieces. It's a decadent dessert that we just can't resist!

Reese’s Cheesecake Brownie Bites

Source: Slightly adapted from Bru Crew Life via So Tasty, So Yummy, brownie recipe from Baking Illustrated, from the Editors of Cook's Illustrated
Yield: about 20 cheesecake brownie bites



Ingredients:
For the brownie layer

• 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick) cut into quarters
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the cheesecake layer

• 16 Reese’s peanut butter cups
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For decorating

• 2 ounces chocolate chips, melted
• 2 bags of Reese’s Pieces

Directions

1. Place the peanut butter cups in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with paper liners.


2. In medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. Whisk in cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.


3. Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture; then stir in flour with wooden spoon until just combined. Divide brownie batter evenly between lined muffin tin cups.


4. Beat cream cheese, butter and cornstarch in a medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in milk, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Chop up the peanut butter cups and stir into the cream cheese mixture. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over top of the brownie batter. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.


5. Drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle Reese’s Pieces on top. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Cookies

Every fall I stock up on fresh cranberries. It's the only time of year you can get them, and I love to bake with them. Last fall I got 6 or 7 bags and tossed them in the freezer.

Guess what? They are all still there.

I never got around to doing anything with them over the winter (for shame), so I figured there's no time like the present!

These cookies are soft, which I love. They are sweet enough to balance the tart cranberries, and have a little hint of citrus from the orange zest. Pecans add the perfect crunch. Still have some cranberries kicking around in your freezer? Make these today!

Cranberry Orange Pecan Cookies

Source: Adapted from Short and Sweets
Yield: 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
• 1/2 cup sucanat
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• zest from one medium orange
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups cranberries, chopped or whole

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add the orange juice and zest. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Slowly mix flour into the batter. Add the pecans and cranberries, mix until just combined.
4. Using a spoon and your fingers or a cookie scoop, form rough balls of dough (approximately 2 tablespoons) and place them on your prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 12-17 minutes, until the edges are slightly brown. Let cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely

Root Beer Float Brownies

It’s no secret around here that I love ice cream.  Since cracking open my ice cream maker several years ago, I’ve purchased ice cream from the store only a handful of times.  Lately, I’ve been finding that the store bought stuff just doesn’t live up to what I make at home.  It just tastes… off.  But, I digress…

Since ice cream is and always has been my favorite dessert, I’m no stranger to the various applications of ice cream in the dessert world.  Root beer floats are an excellent use of ice cream, and a great way to jazz up the plain vanilla variety.  Although, I have to admit – growing up, my favorite combination was actually ginger ale and vanilla ice cream.  They are great together!

I saw these brownies and knew I had to make them for the nostalgia factor.  I didn’t see how I could just leave it as a brownie and frosting, though – what’s a root beer float without ice cream??  The result is a delicious frozen treat, perfect for the summer.  In full disclosure, I actually found these to taste very little like root beer.  A disappointment, for sure, and in the future I will have to seek out the root beer extract to give the frosting a kick.  

Root Beer Float Brownies

Source: Slightly adapted from Coffee and Cannolis
Yield: 30 ice cream brownies

 

 

Ingredients

For the brownies:

• 2/3 cup flour
• 2 cups cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 oz. chopped semi sweet chocolate
• 3 oz. chopped white chocolate
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 8 oz. root beer

For the filling and frosting:

• 1 quart vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup root beer,simmered until reduced to 1/4 cup
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp root beer extract (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.   
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. 
3. Over a double boiler (or in microwave) melt the butter, semi-sweet and white chocolates together.  Remove from heat when just melted and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Using your mixer mix the eggs, sugars and vanilla together.  Slowly add in the cooled chocolate mixture.  Add half the flour and half the root beer. Mix on low, scraping the sides. Repeat with the remaining flour and root beer until just combined. Batter will be very thin.
5. Pour batter into your muffin tins, filling each about halfway.  Bake about 15 minutes, until the center is just set.  Let cool completely.
6. Let ice cream sit out to soften while brownies cool.  Once cooled, fill liners with ice cream.  Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. 
7. Meanwhile, prepare frosting.  Beat butter on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add in your powdered sugar and mix in.  Add concentrated root beer and extract, if desired. Beat on medium until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.
8. Frost cupcakes, then store in the freezer until serving. 

Cheesecake-Style Lime Squares

My husband is not a sweets guy. Once in a while he'll eat cheesecake, caramel brownies, and he loves peanut butter ice cream, but other than that, you are hard pressed to get him to eat dessert. When the latest Clean Eating magazine arrived in the mail, I saw this recipe for cheesecake style lime squares and knew they would be right up his alley. Since they were from CE, I knew they wouldn't be too sweet. And lime + cheesecake is a match made in his heaven.



These definitely lived up to our expectations, and he loved them! The lime adds a bright flavor to the tangy cheesecake base, and I was right - they aren't too sweet. Just perfect for us.

Cheesecake-Style Lime Squares

Source: Slightly adapted from Clean Eating Magazine, June 2012, page 39
Yield: 16 squares
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus 8 hours to chill

 

Ingredients

• 14 all natural whole-wheat graham cracker squares (or 7 rectangular sheets)
• 3 tablespoons organic unsalted butter, melted
• 8 ounces light cream cheese
• 1 cup low-fat sour cream (or plain greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup organic evaporated cane juice
• 1 tablespoon lime zest (from about 2 limes), plus additional for garnish
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving 2 to 3 inches hanging over 2 opposing sides.
2. In a food processor, process graham crackers into fine crumbs.  With machine running, pour butter through feed tube and process until just combined, 2 to 3 seconds.  Transfer mixture to baking dish and press into bottom with your hands to form an even layer.  Bake until edges are very light brown, about 9 minutes.  Transfer to wire rack. 
3. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Wipe out food processor  and add cream cheese and sour cream or yogurt; process until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add cane juice and lime zest and juice.  Pulse, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, until combined.  Add egg and pulse until just combined.  Spread mixtures evenly over top of graham cracker crust and bake until edges are just set and center is still moist and slightly jiggly, 38 to 40 minutes. 
4. Transfer to wire rack and let rest for 10 minutes.  Run a thin knife along the edges of dish to loosen.  Let cool to room temperature.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  Transfer cheesecake to cutting board by lifting edges of parchment.  Garnish with additional lime zest and slice into 16 squares.  Serve chilled.  After slicing, squares will keep refrigerated for 1 day. 

Cooking Challenge: French Macarons

French Macarons! The temperamental, yet adored, cookie is a cooking challenge that many home bakers one day aspire to make. A group of fellow food bloggers decided to conquer this cookie together, so we could share our questions, successes, and tales of woe. See the round-up here!

In my search for macaron recipes, I came across some adorable Easter bunny macarons, and instantly knew that was what I wanted to make. I kept the flavoring simple - vanilla bean, and let the caramel buttercream from my Glee cupcake pull double duty for the filling.



This was definitely a learning experience for me. I was so happy that, by all appearances, everything went well with the macarons: they have feet and for the most part they did not stick to the parchment. Going through the process of making them, I had a few concerns that I will pay more attention to if I make them again.

First, I think I would have benefited from sifting the almond meal/powdered sugar mix. When I added it to the egg whites, the batter was very lumpy. I had to do a lot of folding/mixing to get it smooth, and I think by then I had deflated it too much and the batter was more runny than it should have been (though it wasn't flowing like ribbons, either, so all around it was a little confusing). It probably would have been fine for just piping rounds, but the ears require a thicker batter to stay separate, and clearly my poor bunnies ended up with uni-ears.

I also think that I under baked the bunny faces by maybe a minute. In hindsight, I should have put all the faces on one sheet and the rounds on another. The rounds didn't need as long as the faces and a little extra time in the oven would have helped the faces that were reluctant to release from the parchment.

Sadly, after all that, I was a bit underwhelmed with them. I've never had macarons before, so perhaps I need to taste some made by someone who actually knows what they are doing, but I felt very take-it-or-leave-it. However, my aunt ate three of them at Easter, so I must have done something right.

Vanilla bean bunny macarons with caramel swiss meringue buttercream were a fun addition to our Easter dinner!

Vanilla Bean French Macarons with Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats and inspired by Raspberri Cupcakes
Yield: About 12 bunnies
Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus one hour resting time
Cook time: 12-18 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 110 grams almonds (blanched or slivered), or almond meal
• 200 grams powdered sugar
• 100 grams egg whites (about 3 large eggs), aged at room temperature for 12-24 hours or in the fridge for 3-5 days
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• chocolate sprinkles, sugar pearls, and foodwriter pen for decorating
• caramel swiss meringue buttercream
  

Instructions

1. Pulse the almonds and powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground and well blended. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the mixing bowl. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms. Blend in the vanilla extract, if using.


2. Add the ground almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain. You want to achieve a thick batter that ribbons or flows from the spatula when lifted.


3. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip. Pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets (each round should be about 1-1½ inches in diameter, with 12 rounds on one sheet and 12 rounds with bunny ears on another), spaced about 1 inch apart. Add sugar pearls for nose and tails (I used a cluster of about 7 to make a tail), and sprinkles for whiskers. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a hard shell.


4. Preheat the oven to 300˚F. Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on size. (Baking time can vary widely due to humidity and other factors of your kitchen environment. To test whether or not the cookies are done, let cool for a minute until cool enough to touch. Carefully attempt to remove one shell from the silpat. If it cracks at all or does not remain intact, continue to bake until one is removed intact.) Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies. Draw eyes on bunnies with foodwriter pen.


5. Pipe a small dollop of buttercream onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair. Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the filling to the edges. Store in the fridge overnight in an airtight container. Serve at room temperature