Martian Cookies (Zucchini & lots of other stuff!)

ladypit's Note:

I found these online many years ago. I think they are called martian cookies because of the green zucchini flecks. My husband loves them and has asked for them repeatedly, but I had lost the recipe. I haven't made them in awhile and therefore the serving size is approximate.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 36 cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup coarsely shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Beat the butter until soft.
3. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
4. Add the eggs& vanilla and beat it all well.
5. In another bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
6. Using a mixer on low add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
7. Beat until blended.
8. Use a spoon to add the rest of the ingredients.
9. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are brown.

Reviews

[GotBoxer?]

I can't believe that I haven't rated these cookies yet! I have made atleast six batches of these cookies and they are by far my family's favorite. My kids actually took these cookies to school and told the other grade schoolers what they were! They were ridiculed mercilessly and by the end of the week the other kids were trying to trade thier food for my kid's cookies! I have frozen several batches of dough and baked the cookies later - and rest assured they were just as good as the first batch. I have to admit, I had a bit of trouble with the first batch. I thought they were not cooking at all (even to the point that I thought my oven wasnt on) yet the bottoms were burned to a crisp. This is a cookie that must be baked with "the force" you need to trust that when the recipe says it's done- it's done! when it says "golden brown" its not talking about the top of the cookie, its talking about the bottom. Thank you so much for posting!

[SewandXit]

We loved these cookies! :-) However, when I had the oven on 350?, they didn't seem to be doing too much. I decided to up the temp to 375?, which is the standard temp for most cookies. Once I did that, they cooked perfectly. Yum!

I doubled the batch, but I didn't double all the goodies. I only put one cup of Nuts, 1/2 cup of Butterscotch, and 1/2 cup of Chocolate Chips. I then added a 1/2 cup of raisins. My husband is a huge fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, so I tossed some raisins in the mix. Delicious!

Next time, I'm going to try using Regular Oats instead of Quick Oats and see how they come out. I usually use Regular Oats for Oatmeal Cookies, but I wasn't sure if the moisture of the zucchini would absorb into the Reg Oats. Now that I've made them, I think it will work, as long as I cook them at 375?.

Great Cookie!! ...and a Great way to use some of our overabundance of Zucchini.

[Greeny4444]

Oh yes, I'm keeping this recipe! I usually don't put tons of stuff into a cookie, but I had some zucchini that needed to be eaten (in one way or another), so here I am. I followed the recipe, except for a few things: I used 1/2 cup packed brown sugar for some of the sugar, and no one I know really likes butterscotch anything (except me), so I don't usually have those chips around. I substituted mini baking M&Ms for the butterscotch chips, and they looked like lights on a UFO. Hehe. The batter just makes you happy - either that, or I'm kinda loopy, because it is somewhat late.... I used pecans for the nuts, and I did squeeze the excess moisture from my GRATED zucchini, before I added it to the batter. I baked 10 minutes exactly, and GotBoxer? is right - they don't look done, but I flattened mine with the back of a spatula, so they looked like cookies and not domes, and I put them on a wire rack to cool. My hubby sneaked one more while I was turning my computer on to write this! These would be good to take on a hike, for a kid's party (maybe without the nuts), or anytime, really (which is when I'll be making them!). :) Thanks for this AWESOME recipe!