Right after my youngest was born a friend baked me these delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that had a secret ingredient in them – zucchini. They were absolutely divine and I knew I needed to come up with my own recipe. Since I have an over abundance of shredded zucchini in my freezer I threw this recipe together and it does not disappoint!
When thinking about cookies healthy is rarely a word that’s comes to mind. Because of the sugar content I wouldn’t necessarily consider these healthy; however, they are a better choice than some of the recipes floating around. The bulk of these cookies is made up of oatmeal and zucchini – both of which are an excellent source of fiber and vitamins. Zucchini is rich in vitamin B6 and oatmeal is rich in iron. Oatmeal is also very high in protein (surprise!). A half cup of dry rolled oats contains almost 13 grams of protein; which is more than double the amount of a hard boiled egg.
Aside from being full of healthy ingredients these cookies are so delicious. The chocolate adds little bursts of sweetness and the spices bring depth to the overall flavor. These cookies are also soft and pillowy when you bite into them. I prefer crunchy cookies overall – but these are just so perfect. My only problem with them is I can’t eat only one.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of butter – softened
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of molasses (or honey, or maple syrup)
- 2 cups shredded zucchini – lightly squeezed
- 4 cups of rolled oats
- 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 2 cups of mini chocolate chips
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- Line a cookie sheet with a perforated silicone baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- Cream together butter, sugars, molasses, vanilla extract and eggs.
- Mix in zucchini.
- In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Stir in rolled oats to dry mixture.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture scraping down the sides of the bowl until well mixed.
- Add chocolate chips and gently stir.
- Drop cookies onto cookie sheet in 2 tablespoon sized balls with three inches of space between.
- Bake cookies for 14-15 minutes or until lightly browned. The cookies will be soft in the middle. If you prefer the cookies to be more crisp then bake for 16 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool for five minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to one week.
This recipe yields approximately four dozen cookies.
The Petite Homestead 