A Baking Expert's Top Tips For Adding Zucchini To Your Cookies

Zucchini in baked goods is nothing new, albeit cropping up much less frequently than other ingredients for cakes, pies, and tarts. The world knows and mostly loves zucchini bread, a sweet quick-bread presenting in perfectly formed loaves with moist interiors and crunchy, sometimes sugary, tops. But there's a relatively new zucchini treat in town, and it lands firmly in the cookie camp. 

Fortunately, for anyone with a zucchini-less cookie background, Tasting Table reached out to an expert in the baking world, Jerrelle Guy, author, artist, and recipe developer. She's the author of "Black Girl Baking: "Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing" and fuels the Chocolate for Basil test kitchen and blog. When it comes to cookie ratios, Guy explains that "chewy or crispy cookies should primarily be a ratio of fat, flour, eggs, and sugar." But it's what she said later that might be surprising, mostly because it specifically addresses adding zucchini to the cookie mix — and how the texture can go awry because of water content. 

As it turns out, zucchinis are one of the most hydrating vegetables, composed of an extraordinary 94% water. That doesn't mean you want that water in your homemade cookies, though. Guy offers some suggestions when adding zucchini to cookie batter. "I would grate it finely and drain the extra moisture first, or add in a high water-absorbing ingredient like rolled oats to the batter." However, it's still true that some cookie types are better suited to a zucchini infusion than others. 

We all want tasty cookies that either melt in our mouths or crunch with snappy texture. When employing zucchini as an ingredient, a good option is to choose a dense type of cookie that can more easily absorb all that natural water inside the vegetable. "Add zucchini to a cakier style cookie like a snickerdoodle or oatmeal cookie," says Guy, adding that, "the cinnamon spices will pair really well too!"

Our zucchini oatmeal cookies recipe does just that. Oats and grated zucchini get added to the cookie toward the end, but not before addressing the excess water content. After grating the zucchini, we recommend placing it between layers of paper towels, on top and beneath, then pressing gently to absorb as much water as possible. It's worth noting that zucchini is an also excellent addition to the beloved oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, as well as any cookie recipe you're willing to experiment with. The same expert baking tips easily apply when making various other baked goods, including  zucchini brownies and zucchini carrot bread. Using your summer zucchini harvest in creative ways has never been easier — or more delectable.