Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

Still no photos. I'll take some when I make these again and have a camera again!

1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups grated zucchini

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2.  In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the grated zucchini. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

3.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
 
Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/.  Search chocolate zucchini cookies.
 
THINGS I CHANGED:

• I added some chocolate chips.  I have no idea how many because I just used the partial bag I had, but I'm guessing it was around a cup.  This was a very good idea.
• I did not grease my nonstick cookie sheets.  No problem.
• Baking time was insufficient.  I think I baked each sheet of twelve cookies for twelve minutes.  Huh.  Funny how that worked out.
• Whole wheat flour: I used 1 cup whole wheat flour, and 1 1/4 cups regular unbleached flour. It makes me feel like I'm making health food.  :)

THINGS I LEARNED:

• A cookie does not have to look good to taste good.  And these cookies do NOT look good. 
• The reviews are not alwys correct.  Several reveiwers said that their cookies spread out badly on the cookie sheet.  So I packed the sticky dough into my medium-sized scoop in hopes that having it packed would keep it from spreading out too much.  Instead, they stayed almost entirely in the ball shape.  They were like little chocolately cake wads.  Good ones, but they are very odd looking.

OVERALL OPINIONS:

Bill: Liked them, but I don't think they're a favorite.

Emma:  Liked them a lot.

Georgia: Liked them enough.  The girls also had one each as part of breakfast the next morning.  Georgia ate half, then ate her breakfast, then returned to the other half about an hour later.

Me: They aren't the sweetest cookies in the world.  I wouldn't make them without the chocolate chips, which added a little burst of sweetness to each bite.  My friend Christa, who doesn't like things especially sweet, would love these cookies even though they're really soft.

Bill's co-workers: Did I mention I made these for a carry-in at Bill's work?  They were celebrating one of his co-worker's birthdays with a carry-in, and I've been giving Bill a hard time that I enjoy baking and cooking for other people so much but for every carry-in he buys bags of chips or picks up sliders at White Castle.  It makes me look bad!  :)  Anyhow, they agreed that the cookies look awful but taste good.