Squash time.

It seems like this year summer just sort of took a time out, and before you know it…frost was upon us. Where did fall go? FALL IS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND! Fall’s not supposed to include frost, and cold, and a chance of flurries!

…oh wait, we live in Alberta.

However, the pseudo-autumn season does bring along it’s harvest of squash. I have an acorn squash, a spaghetti squash, and tonnnns of zucchini just waiting to be cooked! We have several zucchini from my garden, begging to be used…so I thought I’d bake with them too. SUCH a good idea! This is the first of hopefully a few recipes to be posted about zucchinis in baking. It sounds weird, yes? But think about carrot cake…that’s kind of weird-sounding too! But delicious! These chocolate zucchini brownies bake up moist, cakey, and satisfying. You can’t taste any zucchini, but it gives it some lightness, so you don’t feel so gross after eating brownies. I also calculated the calories – 160 per bar! And they make fairly big bars too! So put your zucchinis to good use and make some of these suckers.

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies (Recipe adapted from Food Finery – from two peas and their pod)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup All-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 9 x 11 baking pan with cooking spray, set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, combine sugar, canola oil, and flour, combine until mixture resembles wet sand. While mixing, on low, add cocoa, zucchini, vanilla extract, salt and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the brownies are set.
4. Cool on a wire rack. Cut brownies into squares and serve. I cut them 4×6 and got 24 brownies

The brownies that cause trouble.

I was working in the Emergency Department in Lloyd Hospital on friday, and thought that I’d bring a treat for the nurses. Those seashell chocolates were still haunting me, since I only used up half the box in the cookies, and I’ve been craving brownies for weeks…so in they went into my brownies!

And they soon filled up the kitchen with an irresistible chocolate aroma. When they were done, I took them out and cut them into squares to take to work the next day. This was around 10pm, and I thought I’d call it an early night since I had to be in the ER at 7 the next morning. However, I couldn’t resist nibbling a corner off one to “make sure they were good”. Oh dear. What trouble that caused. A corner soon became half, which became a whole, which had to be washed down with milk they were so gooey and delicious. A little crunchy on the top, but soft and moist and melty on the inside. And the sugar-high gave me an awful night’s sleep. I think I finally got to sleep around 12:30 and woke up at 5 to get ready for work. =(

I almost regret nibbling it. Almost, not quite! It’s worth the sleep deprivation.

Nutella Brownies (from twopeasandtheirpod.com)

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped (I subbed belgian chocolates and chocolate chips)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp hazelnut extract (I used vanille extract)
1/4-1/3 cup of Nutella (I used a heaping 1/4 cup)

Directions:

Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease an 8×8 square cake pan (or in the original recipe, a 9 inch pie/cake pan)

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in the chocolate chunks. Whisk until blended.
In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, and extract with a fork until just blended.
Pour the liquid over the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just blended. The batter will be kind of dry, don’t worry. Add in the nutella and stir until combined.
Scrape the mixture in to the pan and spread evenly. You might have to press the mixture in to the sides if you are having trouble spreading with a spatula.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in to the center comes out with only a few gooey pieces clinging to it. Transfer the baking dish to a cooling rack and let cool. Cut into wedges, squares, or just eat from the pan!