Zucchini Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger

National Zucchini Bread Day

Today is National Zucchini Bread Day.  I love baking with zucchini, breads seem to be so much moister when I use it.  In the fall I always freeze zucchini in one cup amounts to be able to use throughout the rest of the year.  When I thaw it out, I do remove some of the liquid as freezing it does bring more liquid.

Pumpkin Chai Biscotti ~ #fillthecookiejar

It is time to Fill the Cookie Jar again.  Mine is getting down to the bottom, so it worked out perfect.  This  month's theme is Thanksgiving.  When I think of Thanksgiving, it is a time of being thankful... Can I be thankful that we don't have snow yet... Well I am, there is snow all around us but thankfully we have only received a small dusting but I do know that there is more to come.  Even though I am thankful that we don't have any snow, I am thankful of the season and the nature that is given to us.. the splendid colours of the fall with the dusting of snow.. Beautiful.

But .... I am getting a bit sidetracked as the snow and the seasons have nothing to do with cookies and I need to Fill the Cookie Jar.  This group was started by Cynthia from Feeding Big .  Each month we are given a theme and we can decide to accept this challenge or not.  As I said before this month theme is Thanksgiving.  When I think of Thanksgiving I think of turkey, dressing and all the fixing ~ Well I didn't think that would make a great cookie but pumpkin pie is a part of Thanksgiving and you need cranberries when you eat your turkey and that is something that I can work with.

I have always wanted to make biscotti and my BBF Marlene from Nosh My Way made some Cracked Pepper Chocolate Chunk Biscotti for one of the Fill the Cookie Jar months and it just made me want to make them even more.  I love biscotti and it is a cookie that is great for dipping either in tea, coffee or hot chocolate.  So, I decided this month I was going to make some with Pumpkin, Chai and Dried Cranberries... They turned out wonderful and every day they even taste better as they get crunchier and the flavours mesh together.  This recipe was adapted from a basic biscotti recipe that I found on  Allrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Chai Biscotti

adapted from Allrecipes.com 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup sugar ( I use Morena Pure Cane Sugar)

1 cup pumpkin

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour ( I used 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat and 2 cups white flour)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/8 cup spiced chai instant powder ( I used Dove Chocolate Discover Spiced Chai)

3/4 cup dried cranberries

coarse sugar (optional)

Salted Caramel Icing (optional)

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In mixing bowl, mix together vegetable oil, eggs and sugar.  Add pumpkin and mix well.

In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and chai powder.

Mix flour mixture into egg mixture until it makes a heavy dough.

Mix in cranberries

Divide dough into two piece and roll out on greased cookie sheet * to the length of the cookie sheet and about 5 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick

Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Once baked cool off slightly until you are able to cut.  Cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices.  Places slices back on cookie sheet cut side up.

Place bake in oven and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes each side, until lightly toasted.

Once toasted, cool.

While cookies are cooling make Salted Caramel Icing:

In sauce pan melt butter, add milk and brown sugar and bring to boil.  Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat

Add vanilla and icing sugar and mix well.

Drizzle over top of cookies.

Enjoy with a cup of Chai Tea

Writer's Notes:

* I used my baking mats and the cookies stuck slightly to it... I just needed to use a spatula.  Next time I will try parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet to see if it makes any difference.

~ my cookies weren't that hard.  I am thinking after the initial baking it would be better to lower the temperature and leave them in the oven longer or let them dry slightly in the oven when turned off.  Anyone have any suggestions?  They still tasted good but weren't as crunchy as the biscotti I have bought. Everyone that tried them at work said they were good.

Last month I Filled the Cookie Jar with Cobweb Cookies (AKA Lace Cookies).

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LINKS: In and Out of the Kitchen, Foodies & Crafties Soirée

Crazy Ingredient Challenge - Cauliflower and Chocolate

I have joined a new group called Crazy Ingredient Challenge.  This group was started up by Jutta from Hungry Little Girl.  This month's challenge was cauliflower and chocolate.  When I first head these two combination I thought.... WHAT???  I am not a big cauliflower fan, I can eat it raw occasionally but not cooked.  So, what was I going to do.  I had been to a Dove Chocolate Tasting Party and bought some Sweet 'N' Spicy Cocoa Rub and also Roasted Chipotle Chocolate Salsa so thought I could use this as my chocolate part of the recipe.  

My first idea was just to use the rub on the cauliflower.  I was BBQing and thought this would be perfect.  I sprinkled some EEVO and the rub on the cauliflower, placed it on the BBQ.  Well, although it wasn't awful, it wasn't so great either... So back to the drawing board I went.

I did some searching for recipes with these two ingredients.  I found lots of chocolate cake recipes with cauliflower... but they didn't interest me.  I found recipes that you make cooked cauliflower and add cocoa.. tried that and didn't really like it.  I am not sure how I even got onto some recipes for Quinoa Bites but I did and I had an Aha moment... I could do quinoa bites with cauliflower and the salsa and the recipe began.

Chocolate Cauliflower Quinoa Bites

Ingredients:

For Bites

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/4 cup cooked wild rice

1 cup cooked mashed cauliflower *(see note)

1/4 cup DCD Roasted Chipotle Chocolate Salsa

1/8 cup diced onions

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese

For Dip

1/4 cup greek yogurt - I used Chobani yogurt

1 tsp DCD sweet and spicy cocoa rub

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix quinoa, wild rice, cauliflower, salsa, onions, egg, salt and pepper together.  Place in mini muffin tins or drop from small cookie scoop. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 12 -15 minutes until golden brown.

For dip:  Mix yogurt and cocoa rub.

* Notes:  I cooked my cauliflower and then put it through the food processor. 

Enjoy.

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Linked to these great parties:  Saturday Dishes