Last week, I was given three zucchinis by a friend of ours who also gardens. He told me he would give me a small, medium, and large. Unbeknownst to me, we have different definitions of small, medium, and large. What I ended up with were more like large, extra-large, and baseball bat sized zucchini. What am I going to do with all that zucchini?
We are not too big of fans of eating zucchini cooked in different dishes (fried zucchini, zoodles, lasagna, etc.), but I do like to shred them up in 2 cup portions and then freeze those packages to make breads, muffins, and cake later. From our friend’s generosity, I was able to get seven, two cup packages for the freezer.
If you happen to live anywhere in the middle of the United States during the end of August 2023, then you know that we are in the middle of a week-long Excessive Heat Warning. It is HOT and there is no way that I am going to be turning on my oven to make any kind of zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, or zucchini cake, regardless of how good it sounds.
I do, however, need to bake some more muffins for my oldest son’s breakfast. You see, I make up homemade muffins every ten days to two weeks and put them in the freezer. Then every morning, I take out two muffins and re-heat them for his breakfast. If there are no muffins, he skips breakfast altogether. He is a freshman in high school this year and on the football team. More than ever, he needs to eat something real to best fuel his body for the day.
Here is my dilemma: I need to bake something for his breakfast, but I refuse to turn on the oven. Then it hits me, instead of chocolate zucchini muffins, I will make chocolate zucchini waffles.
I checked other recipes online and once you add zucchini to the search, things get very “healthy” very quickly. I was looking for a recipe using ingredients I had on hand and have it taste like something my nearly 15-year-old would eat. This morning, I took a note card and attempted to make a new recipe for chocolate zucchini waffles using what I had on hand and some basic baking know-how.
Please note that these waffles are not going to be as sweet as a chocolate zucchini muffin. However, you can use them as a base for a delicious dessert waffle.
Ingredients:
- 6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- a dash of cinnamon (1/8 teaspoon?)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
- 2 cups shredded zucchini (fresh or frozen with excess liquid squeezed out)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- Pan spray
Combine milk and yogurt into a 2-cup measure and stir to combine. Let set at least 3-5 minutes.
Add melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla into a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
Drain and squeeze excess liquid out of the zucchini and mix into wet ingredients. Add in milk mixture. Stir everything to combine.
Sift in cocoa powder and then sift in baking powder and flour.
Mix the dry into the wet.
Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray BETWEEN EACH WAFFLE and cook waffles.
Growing Hope 