I wanted to make a special dessert while we were camping. I had seen this recipe on Echoes of Laughter for a dessert roll up and thought it looked yummy. I had planned to get some strawberries, but when we got sour cherries in our box this week, I decided to use them instead. I also used chocolate hazelnut spread, hazelnuts, and dark chocolate chunks. I cooked them for about 10 minutes. They were amazing!
Category Archives: Desserts
Chocolate Chipotle Zucchini Bread
Skarsgard Farms, the local organic farm that supplies our harvest boxes, has been sending plenty of zucchini this month. When I searched for a way to use them, several recipes for chocolate zucchini bread came up. I’ve been trying chipotle chili powder in different chocolate recipes, some with more success than others.
This is one of the successful attempts. The original recipe came from Eating Well. The original recipe is delicious, my chipotle version adds a little kick.
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1½ cups sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
- 2 cups grated zucchini, (1 medium)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place walnuts in a pie plate. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 5-7 minutes until toasted, checking frequently.
- Combine flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chipotle powder in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar, applesauce, oil, vanilla, and unsweetened chocolate. Stir to combine. Add to flour mixture and stir just until the flour is moistened.
- Add zucchini and nuts, stir until just combined.
- Divide the mixture between the 2 pans, level the top. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.
Bonus Recipe: Nectarine Crumb Pie
So, I decided to enter a pie contest sponsored by Tidy Mom. First prize is a new range. Ours isn’t dying (yet), but the convection oven is appealing. I used two different inspiration recipes in creating this pie. Since I am really bad at rolling pie crust, I tried a no-roll crust recipe from allrecipes.com and substituted whole wheat flour. I also substituted whole wheat flour into Cooks.com’s crumb topping recipe. There is no sugar in the filling, just a little in the crumb topping. It tastes really good! If I didn’t already have pumpkin, I might try this for Thanksgiving!
- 2¼ cups whole wheat flour, divided
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup canola oil
- ¼ cup ice water
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
- 6 tablespoons butter, slightly softened
- 8 cups sliced nectarines
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¾ cup pecan pieces
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine 1½ cup whole wheat flour, salt, canola oil, and ice water. Press into deep dish pie pan. Set aside.
- Combine remaining whole wheat flour, sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter with pastry blender (or 2 forks), until topping is crumbly. Set aside.
- Combine nectarines, remaining cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and pecans. Pour into prepared crust. Sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake until topping is golden, about an hour. (Watch the crust; I had to cover the edges after about 20 minutes.)
Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom sponsored by Whirlpool and enter to win a new Whirlpool Range!
Happy eating!
Ruth
Bonus Recipe-Zucchini Cake!
Our niece and her husband visited us last weekend to attend the Balloon Fiesta. Over the summer, she brought us a gigantic zucchini. I didn’t have time to cook it at the time, so I grated and froze it. I decided to use some of it for a dessert. I can always feel comfortable trying recipes out on them! Everyone thought this zucchini cake was, “So good!” so I am sharing this even though we didn’t get zucchini in our box this week. The base recipe I used for the cake came from allrecipes.com,with the addition of some dried cranberries.
- 1½ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 egg plus 1 egg white
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1⅛ cup sugar
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 2¼ cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon peel
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 9 pan.
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon, set aside. I large mixing bowl, beat egg, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, beat well. Add zucchini, walnuts, and cranberries, stir to combine.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
- Combine remaining ingredients. Beat until fluffy. Spread over cooled cake. Cut into squares.
If you are using frozen zucchini for this recipe, make sure to thaw and drain it well before using it in the batter.
Happy eating!
Ruth
Coconut Topped Apricot Pie
We got apricots in our box two weeks in a row. A LOT of apricots. Since we are not big apricot eaters, I decided to make a pie to serve for dessert. I found this recipe for Apricot Pie with Coconut Crumble from Martha Stewart, but wanted to use an oatmeal crumble. I also decreased the amount of sugar. Our company gave this a thumbs up; and I hope you will, too.
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ cup butter, cut in small pieces
- 1¼ pound apricots, pitted and sliced
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- prepared pie crust
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine oats, coconut, brown sugar, and flour in food processor. Add butter and process until mixture is crumbly.
- In a bowl, combine apricots, sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Pour into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle with oatmeal mixture. (I only used about ¾ of the mixture.)
- Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until filling is bubbly throughout. Start watching the pie after about 30 minutes and tent with aluminum foil when the crust is brown.
Happy eating!
Ruth