chocolate chip

Mary’s Super Moist Chocolate Zucchini Bread (With NO Vegetable Oil)

~ Grace ~ Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again, the zucchini is pouring out of the garden.  I love the abundance of this versatile veggie, and have many recipes to use them up.  Zucchini bread has always been a good way to use it up, but this one is a super duper amazing way to use it!  I’m going to freeze lots and lots of zucchini just so I can make this bread all year long. ;D

marys bread

It’s so moist and smooth and sweet and wonderful and it all came about by accident.  Mary is the one that first made this, hence the name: “Mary’s Super Moist Chocolate Zucchini Bread”.  She had a recipe to follow, but we hadn’t been shopping for a while and didn’t have some of the ingredients, so she “improvised”.  We were all pleasantly surprised with the results. 🙂

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This is not only very tasty but healthier than most quick breads too!

Mary's Moist Chocolate Zucchini Bread (With NO Vegetable Oil)
 
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This will make 2 loaves.
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Ingredients
  • 2 cups grated zucchini
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups of sugar (I use a bit less)
  • 1 stick melted butter (half a cup)
  • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 and ¼ cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
Instructions
  1. Grease two loaf pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix the first 5 ingredients until well combined.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
  4. Divide the batter between the 2 loaf pans.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min then lower the temp to 300 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from the loaf pans and cool completely before cutting.

Another great thing about this bread is you have options!  I love options. 🙂

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You can add a 3/4 of a cup of chocolate chips and have “Mary’s Super Moist Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread” (this is my girls favorite).

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Or you could leave out the cocoa powder and have “Mary’s Super Moist Zucchini Bread” and it’s still, oh so good!!

Wait, there’s more!….We made three batches of this last week (6 loaves).  Six loaves for four people is a bit much, so I froze 2 loaves and took them out yesterday for breakfast and took some to our Bible study.  They froze VERY well and I think they might have even tasted better from the freezer!?!? WHAT?

I have noticed that while this bread is delicious still warm from the oven, it’s very crumbly if you don’t let it cool completely first.  Its even easier to cut after being in a zip lock bag over night.  But, it tastes great ANY time. 🙂

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

~ Grace ~ 7 Comments

These are beyond a shadow of a doubt the BEST peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had!

Peanut Butter Choc Chip CookiesI cannot take credit for finding this recipe, it was all my kids.  It all started with this:

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Little Chef came home to find this on her bedroom door.

My boys are smart, when they want cookies they know who to ask.  The next thing I know, Little Chef is asking if I will show her how to look up cookies on Pinterest.  She wanted to  find a “new” recipe.  I did, and just like her mama, Pinterest sucked her in and she was there forever looking through thousands of pins of delicious looking cookies.  I think her brother became worried that cookies were never going to become a reality.  I heard him say something about peanut butter and chocolate chips and bless her cookie lovin’ heart she searched for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and decided on this recipe.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookiesA little while later I walked through the kitchen and stole a chunk of warm cookie (it was a broken piece and NEEDED to be eaten)……as the sweet, buttery, chocolaty, warm, piece of cookie melted in my mouth.  The clouds parted,  the sun shone through, the angels sang and my taste buds rejoiced.  I think I said something like “Holy cow, those are stinking amazing,  I’m NEVER going to be able to stay away from these cookies.”  I really didn’t need to worry about that though, they were completely devoured shortly after that by other members of our household.

Here’s the recipe so you can hear the angels too!

5.0 from 2 reviews
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter at room temperature
  • 2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons of milk
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a mixing bowl beat together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and mix well then add the eggs and mix well again. Next add the milk and vanilla stir well. Measure all the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and then add to the peanut butter mixture. Stir just a bit and then add chocolate chips and stir until everything is combined. Let the cookie dough sit for a few minutes to firm up. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop 1 or 2 tablespoons of cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet a couple inches apart and bake for about 10 minutes. They will look a little under done. If you leave them on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes they will be much easier to remove to a cooling rack.

Tip: These are amazing cookies anytime but if you want to see the clouds part and hear the angels sing you have to try them when they are still warm. 🙂  The only small draw back to these cookies is that they are pretty delicate, I would not recommend these for baking and shipping in the mail…..they would be awfully tasty crumbs though!

This recipe was adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

This post was shared at : Weekend Potluck – Clever Chicks Blog Hop – HomeAcre Hop – From The Farm Blog Hop –

Pumpkin Chip Bread or Muffins

~ Grace ~ 12 Comments

Here is the first recipe I’m sharing that uses my homemade pumpkin pie spice mix.  This is so perfect for a cool fall day, and as a bonus it will make your house smell like fall too!

Pumpkin Chip Bread

5.0 from 1 reviews
Pumpkin Chip Bread or Muffins
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Quick Bread
Ingredients
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
  • ¾ cup butter - melted
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • ⅔ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
  • 1 cup chocolate chips plus ¼ cup for sprinkling on top
Instructions
  1. In a mixer or large bowl combine the pumpkin, vanilla, eggs, butter and yogurt. In a separate bowl stir together flours, sugar, salt, baking powder & soda, and Pumpkin Pie Spice mix. Pour dry ingredients into the mixer and blend well. Fold in the 1 cup of chocolate chips. Grease a loaf pan, pour batter in and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes.

Pumpkin Chip BatterNote: If you don’t have plain yogurt you could substitute sour cream and you could also substitute apple sauce for the butter.  I used organic sugar but sucanat would also work.  I also used a little less sugar and chocolate chips and it was still yummy, yummy!

Pumpkin Chip MuffinsInstead of bread you can make muffins.  These are the jumbo muffins and they took about 30 minutes to get done.  The smaller regular size muffins take about 20 minutes.  Be sure to grease your muffin tins and fill them about 2/3 full…..yummm!

This recipes was adapted from: Java Cupcake

Award Winning Chocolate Chunk Brownies

~ Grace ~ 31 Comments

Brownies 4In the past I have tried to share only recipes that are on the healthier side…this is not one of those!  I feel compelled to share it with you though, because they REALLY are award winning brownies (not to mention easy and delicious).

Brownies 5In 2009 when Little Chef was 6 years old I asked her if she wanted to make some cookies and enter them into the fair.  She said  “no, I want to make brownies”.  So we found a brownie recipe that looked easy enough for a six year old and she went to work (with a little help from mom).  That year she brought home the huge purple “Top Of Show” ribbon.  Over the past four years that recipe has become our “go to” dessert.  If I need a dessert quickly this is the recipe I grab.  I usually grab my daughter too and have her make them! (lots of grabbing going on, sorry)  She never says no to making “her” brownies. 😉  So when her 4-H leader told us about “Food Activity Day”  the natural recipe of choice was………..you guessed it,  Chocolate Chunk Brownies.  On food activity day the kids pick a recipe and bring everything they need to prepare that recipe (or meal).   They set to work while the judge watches.  When they are done and the kitchen is clean they get to share their food with the judge and answer any questions they have.  My daughter was so excited about this day, and she had soooo much fun!  She was asking if she could do it again next year before they even handed out the awards. 😀  She received reserve champion in the Junior class for her brownies and brought home another purple ribbon and a blue ribbon!

Brownies 2They are soooo soft, gooey, and chocolaty rich, and they just melt in your mouth!

Brownies 3

5.0 from 2 reviews
Award Winning Chocolate Chunk Brownies
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter - melted
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 4 eggs - slightly beaten
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup simi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl add the sugar, vanilla, and eggs to the warm melted butter and blend well. Add flour, cocoa and salt; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a greased 13X9-inch pan.
  2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until set. Let cool for at least 1 hour or until completely cooled before cutting into bars.

As you can see this is not a healthy recipe but definitely worth sharing. 🙂  Well….maybe I just wanted to brag about my Little Chef, that’s not so little any more.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

~ Grace ~ 6 Comments

This recipe is very versatile…you can make healthy breakfast muffins, or not quite so healthy dessert muffins.  But either way they are nummy, nummy, nummy!  Of course I made both kinds, (several times) just to make sure I got the recipe exactly right.  Then a few more times to be absolutely sure I wasn’t sharing a recipe that was no good.  Then I found myself digging through the bananas at the store to find more over ripe bananas, cause waiting for bananas to get a little over ripe just takes to long!!  Did I mention these muffins are good?….really good!

DSCN5783 (640x480)-1Start by mixing together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and set it aside.

DSCN5712 (640x480)-1In a separate bowl smash the bananas then add honey, butter, egg, and milk.  Stir well and then pour into dry ingredients and stir until moist, then fold in chocolate chips.

DSCN5823 (640x480)-1Fill sprayed cupcake tins or you can use cupcake liners about 1/2 full and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup honey
  • ¼ cup butter or coconut oil melted
  • 3 over ripe bananas smashed
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup milk, any kind you like
  • ½ cup of chocolate chips or more if you like, or you could leave them out if you want a sugar free muffin. 🙂
Instructions
  1. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl smash the bananas and add honey, melted butter, egg, and milk. Stir well and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir until combined then fold in chocolate chips. Put cupcake liners in a cupcake tin or spray the tin with cooking spray. Fill each tin half full with batter and bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 14 muffins

Note: If you’re like me and like to cook with stevia, just substitute 3 tsp. spoonable stevia for the honey and add an extra 1/4 cup of milk and a half cup of plain yogurt.  Don’t use cup cake liners; they will stick. I sprayed the cupcake tins with Pam and they came out just fine.

I made these this morning with whole wheat, coconut oil, rice milk and didn’t add any chocolate chips.  They were a wonderful HEALTHY breakfast!

DSCN5753 (640x408)-1They taste even better warm from the oven with “Honey Whipped Cream Cheese”  smeared all over them!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

~ Grace ~ 2 Comments

I got this recipe from my mom many years ago, it’s the recipe I grew up on.  So anytime I try to make a different chocolate chip cookie it just doesn’t taste right.  In my opinion THIS is what a chocolate chip cookie should look and taste like!!  I think they’re the best when under cooked just a little….soft and SUPER yummy!!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups oatmeal
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Mix together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda then add to sugar mixture and blend well. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips mix well.
  2. Drop spoon fulls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
  3. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.
  4. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

 

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