Zucchini. The gift that keeps on giving. And giving. And giving. Normally, after you have made an army of bread, muffins, pancakes, cooked, steamed, made noodles, shredded, frozen, dried, pickled- used every conceivable method of dealing with zucchini, you can sneak some on all the neighbors porches. Thanks to COVID, sneaking onto a neighbor’s porch is liable to get you pepper sprayed. Sometimes food pantries will take the extra, but again, COVID. They are being cautious.

Sooooo…. what the heck do you do with the extra zucchini? Especially when you find one of the sneaky ones the size of a newborn baby?!? Well, here’s a new method to use some of that extra zucchini in what seems to me to be a new and novel way. Zucchini BLONDIES. I tried to make it somewhat healthy by using ancient grain organic Einkorn flour that I bought online from Janies Mill. They ship, and they also have bakeware, cook books, yeast, and bread kits. I cannot say enough good things about them.

Einkorn is lower in gluten, higher in protein, and more flavorful than modern grains. It is trickier to use for those same reasons, but I so far like to use it in quick breads. I’ve made loaves with it, but they have been a little iffy, and that is probably my lack of baking skill, rather than the flour. Other people bake wonderful loaves, I just haven’t baked in YEARS.

Like many people this year, I’ve poured my energy and extra time into coming up with new ways to use things and being creative. The current glut of zucchini is no exception. I got the crazy idea to make a blondie with both einkorn AND zucchini. It turned out AMAZING. This could easily be made vegan by substituting apple sauce for eggs.

This recipe was developed for a kitchenaid mixer. If you do NOT have a kitchenaid I suggest you mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients in separate bowls and then slowly add the dry into the wet, stirring your heart out. Also, I bake in a 12″ cast iron skillet, so if you use something different, you will have to watch it more closely.

The recipe makes a 12″ blondie, with 15 minutes prep time (unless you have to hand grate, not use a food processor) and a bake time of 45-50 minutes.

Recipe:

• 3 cups Einkorn flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped nuts (or pepitas)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used 60% cacao)
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3 eggs

Method:

Preheat oven to 325° and coat 12″ cast iron skillet with coconut oil.

• Measure all ingredients ahead of time.
• Add flour to kitchenaid bowl and put the machine on the lowest setting.
• Add sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice until mixed thoroughly.
• Add coconut oil, eggs, zucchini, vanilla, and mix until it forms a thick, sticky batter.
• Add nuts and chocolate chips. If you have to turn the speed up, do so.
• Once mixed well, turn out into the oiled cast iron skillet, scraping the mixing bowl down as you do.
• It should be about 1 inch thick in the skillet. If it is too thick, it will take roughly an eternity to bake all the way through.
• Place in preheated oven and set a 30 minute timer. Start checking for the level of done at that point, and then every 10 minutes after that. I’ve made it twice and it took 45 minutes one time and a solid 50 the next.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.

This makes a moist, gooey, rich blondie, that warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is amazing, especially if you like being in a food coma. I’ve been thinking about making an apple version with applesauce, spiced apples, and apple juice. That will be the next experiment. Let me know if you try it and what you think.