Lemon Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

This is a recipe I found in an old issue of Everyday Food, and these cookies are delicious!  They have quickly become my favorite Summer treat. They are super easy to make, and help make sure I use up all of the extra zucchini I have laying around.  I have all of the ingredients on hand, even the lemon zest needed stored in my freezer.  I did make one addition to the recipe, I replaced half of the vanilla extract with lemon extract, just to make it a little more lemony.  Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 medium zucchini, grated on small holes of a box grater (about 1 cup)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon extract, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture is crumbly. Add zucchini and stir until a thick dough forms.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are light golden brown at edges, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Whole grain (mostly) healthy Zucchini muffins

This is a whole grain muffin recipe, filled with yumminess of all sorts, but without all of the sugar.  If you are looking for a sweet, buttery, sugary muffin...this recipe is probably not for you.  However, if you are looking for a healthy muffin for breakfast on the go, or a mid afternoon snack, then you will love this recipe.  You can change up the ingredients a bit if you want, you can add carrots and raisins instead of the zucchini and apples, or substitute the zucchini and apples for blueberries.  This is a versatile, hearty muffin recipe, and has quickly become my go to recipe for muffins.

Zucchini Muffins (makes 12-15 muffins)

3/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 (heaping) tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 cup chopped dehydrated apples

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups zucchini

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease muffin tins.  Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.  In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla, then stir in the zucchini.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Scoop batter into muffins tins and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Enjoy!!