Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

Every workplace or neighborhood has them. You know the type. The overzealous gardener who planted too many seeds and now has tons of these lovely green and/or yellow cylindrical objects to get rid of before they rot. I call these people "zucchini pushers" because they seem to pop up from out of nowhere and insist that you take a few. But a few is not a few. It's usually several. Or to put it another way, more than you could ever use in a lifetime. But you take them because after all, they're free and you don't want hurt feelings. Little do you know your friend, neighbor or co-worker is probably laughing at you and saying to their spouse or significant other, "I unloaded a bunch more today honey!"

I've always wondered why I'm never offered the good stuff like vine-ripened tomatoes or corn. The stuff that costs a fortune at the farmer's market. Corn is sixty-five cents an ear this year and I've seen tomatoes as high at $3.99 per pound. No, I just seem stuck with tons of zucchini.

Once you bake a few loaves of zucchini bread what else is there to make? A quick search of the internet yielded recipes for zucchini cake, zucchini cobbler (yes, cobbler!), zucchini with pasta, and zucchini fritters. But what about cookies? Does a recipe for zucchini cookies even exist? It didn't take too much effort to find this recipe for Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies from Everyday Food. And with a zucchini in the fridge just begging to be used, there was no time to waste.

The good news is that you need only one medium sized zucchini in these cookies. The bad news is that you need only one medium sized zucchini, unless you double the batch in which case you'll need two. Chances are you probably have three or four still waiting in the wings and a neighbor who just can't wait to bump into you so he or she can offer you more.

I was expecting these cookies to be terrible. Much to my surprise they were actually worse than terrible. They were dreadful. The texture was rubbery, dense, and didn't taste like zucchini at all. The lemon zest did give the cookie some much needed flavor.

Perhaps I should have followed the directions exactly as written and used a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients. Instead, I used my Mixmaster and perhaps I over mixed the dough. That would explain the rubbery texture but it still doesn't explain the lack of flavor.

So while I admit I may have blundered when making these cookies, I still can't wholeheartedly recommend them. In case you want to try these and judge for yourself, here's the recipe. If you look on the bright side, you'll have one less zucchini to throw away. Or you may throw it away in cookie form!

Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
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 zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture becomes 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 around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 25 cookies.

Cookie press rating: 1 cookie (out of 5)


Grating the Zucchini














The Soft Dough