My mom brought us a big bag of yellow squash and zucchini last week, and when I saw the bag I thought “Oh my, that’s too much squash!” But then I looked in the bag, and it was only about a third full so I didn’t go into squash-overload-panic-mode.
And then I started making SquashThings and learned just how much squash was in a third of a bag of squash.
(Spoiler: It’s a lot.)
First I made Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Muffins, which used up half a zucchini and also the bananas on the counter that were about to go bad. They were delicious, but next time I’ll use applesauce instead of mashed bananas because Poppy said they were “too banana-y” for her.
Most of the other half of that zucchini went into Ambitious Kitchen’s Flourless Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oat Brownies, which Poppy has joined the rest of the family in eating with relish. (Not literally with relish. That would be gross.)
Are you sensing a theme here? Because you should let go of that idea, because the rest of the squash did not get a chocolate chip accompaniment. The rest of the zucchini and most of the yellow squash became a wonderful, cheesy squash casserole, and the remaining yellow squash went home with my sister-in-law. Which I regretted as soon as I tasted the casserole, because it was delicious and I want to make it again ASAP.
In conclusion, we’ve eaten a lot of squash over the last few days, and I’ve been very happy about that. What’s your favorite squash recipe?
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 over-ripe, medium bananas
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Cooking spray
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed until well blended. Mash or blend your bananas until they’re smooth, and add to the egg-sugar mixture.
- Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of a muffin comes out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove muffins from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
Adapted from “Cooking Light” magazine.
