My Aunt Annie used to live in the Midwest, with my other Aunt, her sister, Aunt Toots (I’m not making this name up). Both were absolutely adorable women who loved to cook and collect anything that had to do with cooking. I recently found an ancient copy of Midwest Living that they subscribed to, and it had a recipe in it of a brownie made with zucchini.

We’ve all had our share of chocolate zucchini cake, so why not a zucchini brownie? The blurb that went with the brownie recipe said this it could be found at the Macomb, Illinois street market. So any of you Midwesterners out there…if you’re ever in Macomb, you now know what to look for.

Oh, I should explain why I’m touting zucchini anything right now — after all, it won’t be “on” (garden-wise) for another few months, right? Well, some of us were so clever as to shred and freeze our 75 lbs - worth, and since garden season is well and truly upon us, I need to use this stuff up! Anyway, try this recipe and let me know what you think:

Zucchini Brownies

makes 50 brownies — but wouldn’t that depend on how you cut ‘em? Now me, I like big, honkin’ brownies...

1 ½ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder (non-aluminum is always best; I use Rumford’s)
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
1 ½ C sugar
¾ C cooking oil
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 ½ C finely shredded zucchini
1 ½ C finely chopped nuts
2 C frosting (your favorite chocolate frosting)