Zucchini and Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm having a cooking love affair with zucchini. It's such a lovely ingredient to cook with and because of it's high moisture content, everything I make with it is so moist and delicious.

Zucchini muffins seemed weird to me, but I was happy to add chocolate chips to it (as per the recipe!). As this recipe was from www.allrecipes.com, lots of people suggested that this was a great way to feed vegetables to children. Truthfully, I don't agree. In a dozen muffins, there was one large zucchini, which nets out to hardly one serving. Either way, I really enjoyed these and they certainly didn't last long in our house!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

• In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• In a separate bowl, combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla.
• Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
• Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.
• Pour into greased muffin tins.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was looking for a good, classic chocolate chip cookie recently and I decided not to look any further the chocolate chip package. This was bound to be a good recipe because anyone who would put it on their package, had to be confident in them. These did not disappoint and fully lived up to their name of Chewy Milk Chocolate Chip cookies. I put these in just before So You Think You Can Dance came on, and was eating them by the first commercial. Yum!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 package chocolate chips

Directions

• Combine melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and hot water. Mix well.
• In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to butter and sugar mix.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop from a small spoon onto a an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
• Makes about four dozen cookies.

Recipe from Hershey's Chipits package

Best Banana Bread Ever

My freezer is full of bananas. Dozens of black, overripe, frozen bananas. I needed to make some room so I brought out seven small-medium bananas and made the best ever banana bread.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cups mashed bananas
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I didn't have them on hand this time, but they are delicious)

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

2. Add eggs and beat

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt

4. Mix into butter, sugar and egg mixture

(the pouring shield really makes this easy)

5. In another separate bowl, mash bananas and mix with sour cream and vanilla

6. Add to other mixture and mix together

7. Pour into two loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.