Baked Zucchini Cakes

Greg absolutely loves these baked zucchini cakes. In fact, he was the one who told me that I should share this recipe on my previous blog and I know he wants to make sure it gets on this new blog, too. I am glad I had saved this recipe because it is a meal that we all enjoy. I had never really considered making something like these before, but when we used to have a garden, we would grow different vegetables. One year, our garden produced so much zucchini. We could not keep up with all of it! We were picking about two zucchinis per day out of the garden that summer. For some reason, that was the only summer that we had such success with the zucchinis! Every night that summer, I tried to think of new ways to use the zucchini in recipes. One thing that I loved making was zucchini bread. One week, I had baked six loaves of zucchini bread with all the zucchini I was picking! That is when I came to the realization that I should be a little more adventurous and tried this recipe out. I like the zucchini cakes with melted fresh mozzarella cheese and a little Sriracha sauce for dipping. Greg recommends eating them with a gallon of ketchup. The zucchini cakes are a healthy enough meal and they are filling. Enjoy!

Recipe for Baked Zucchini Cakes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium zucchini, grated with a box cutter
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 8 crushed saltine crackers for the mixture, plus about 16 more for coating the cakes
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• A dash or two of Sriracha sauce
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder

DIRECTIONS

Put the grated zucchini in a colander and carefully set it on top of a bowl so that the zucchini can drain. Add a little bit of coarse sea salt and gently mix. Let the grated zucchini drain for about an hour, tossing occasionally. About a cup of water from the zucchini should be in the bowl. After an hour, use your hands to squeeze out any excess moisture.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a baking pan.

Put the bread crumbs, 8 crushed crackers, red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper Sriracha sauce, and beaten egg into a bowl and mix. Add in the grated zucchini and mix again. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture and mix well. Use your hands to form the mixture into 6 – 8 zucchini cakes. Try to make them the same size and thickness. Put the remaining crushed crackers onto a plate. Coat each side of the zucchini cakes with the crackers. Crush more crackers if needed for coating. Place the zucchini cakes on the baking pan. Put in the oven and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, then remove from oven and carefully turn over each one (use a spatula and make sure to keep them in tact). Place back in oven and cook for another 10 – 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Serving suggestions: Serve with ketchup or another dipping sauce. Serve on a toasted and lightly buttered bun with fresh mozzarella cheese.

Original Recipe