a coworker kindly gave me an enormous zucchini from her garden a few weeks ago, and i spent a few days trying to decide what to do with all that zucchini…besides photograph it for posterity, that is.
so what did i finally decide to make? why, zucchini bread, of course! i absolutely adore zucchini bread – the addition of squash to spiced bread makes it deliciously tender and healthy (it completely mitigates all the butter and sugar, right?).
i had been wanting to try a recipe i saw on 101 cookbooks for a long time, and i figured this was the chance.
so i set to work with my food processor, which grated the zucchini effortlessly in a matter of seconds, then mixed and measured and chopped and stirred to make this delicious bread.
the zucchini yielded 7 cups of grated squash, so i ended up doubling this recipe and making muffins and mini loaves out of the second round. after giving away a full size loaf and several mini loaves, we were still left with an overwhelming quantity of baked goods, so i individually wrapped the muffins and mini loaves in saran wrap and popped them into the freezer for breakfasts and snacks for weeks to come. yum!
zucchini bread
adapted from 101 cookbooks
yields 2 loaves
- 1/2c butter, softened
- 1c white sugar
- 1/2c brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2t vanilla
- 3c grated zucchini
- 3c whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose
- 3T flax seed meal, option
- 1½t baking soda
- 1/2t baking powder
- 1t salt
- 1½t cinnamon
- 1c broken walnuts
- 1 lemon’s zest, optional
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- preheat oven to 350° then grease and flour two loaf pans
- beat the butter in a mixer or with electric beaters until light and fluffy, then add the white and brown sugars and beat for another 5 minutes, until the mixture is completely combined
- add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and grated zucchini
- in another bowl, combine the flour, ground flax seeds, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, then add to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined
- stir in the lemon zest and walnuts just until incorporated
- divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes until it springs back when pressed off center
- allow to cool and enjoy!
- note: you can also make 24 muffins out of this recipe and eat or freeze them for later