Whole Wheat Zucchini Cookies

Derek and Megan have been generously sharing their zucchini with us. Seemed like a great chance to try some zucchini cookies. The whole wheat flour and lemon zest caught my attention in this recipe.

I grind my own whole wheat flour. Our friends, the Marshalls, gave us several hundred pounds of wheat when they moved to Utah years ago. Hence, we refer to it as “Marshall Wheat.” Though it is at least thirty years old, it still grinds into great flour.

These cookies are soft and cake-like but are earthy from the whole wheat flour and the oats.

Recipe By:

Pillsbury Cookoff

Yield:

48

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups shredded zucchini, drained*
2 cups miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Cover baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.

3.  In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat until light and fluffy.

4.  Add lemon peel, vanilla and eggs. Blend well.

5.  Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

6.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

7. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight to let the whole wheat flour absorb as much moisture as possible.

8. Drop 2-tablespoon balls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.

9. Bake 9 to 13 minutes or until browned on edges. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

Notes:

* I put the shredded zucchini in a sieve and pressed it as hard as I could, until zucchini juice ran through. Then, I spread it between two towels and pressed them together to try to get as much of the water out as possible.