Were you looking for something to do with all of that zucchini you got at the Farmers Market this weekend?
When I was a kid we had the most amazing garden in our backyard. Our house looked like a barn and our backyard was probably more garden than yard. We didn’t have any livestock running around but we always managed to have some creatures making a home in our garden our under our deck. I should make sure to tell you more about the groundhog from hell. We grew all sorts of delicious things in that garden. I think you know where this is going…
Obviously we grew zucchini in that garden. As a little girl I really looked forward to going out to the garden and picking up the large squash and watching how big things could grow in such a short amount of time. I remember putting things in a basket (yes, we used a basket) and carrying them in to the house. My mom always knew what she was going to do with the bounty of our garden. Lucky for her I wasn’t a picky eater. Writing this is making me long for those simple days in the backyard – damn you adulthood!
When we had an excess of zucchini my mom would reach for her trusty zucchini bread recipe. I love this recipe and we were pretty expert at making loaves of bread that we would give away to neighbors or freeze until the Fall. Tip: If you are mom of a picky eater this bread exists for you!
Anything that hides a vegetable is amazing. This bread will do just that. I love that you can shred up the zucchini, skin and all, throw it in to a bowl with all the right kind of goodness (read: sugar). It makes the most delicious bread, one that almost rivals its well-known cousin, the banana bread. You can make your own combination with nuts or chocolate chips. I actually did make a few with chocolate chips and let me tell you…(disclaimer: I only took pictures of the non-choco bread because I had already started eating the chocolate chip version before remembering to take pictures #foodbloggerproblems)
Throw a slice of chocolate chip zucchini bread in the microwave for 15 seconds and you have the most delicious snack, complete with melting chocolate as one should desire to have when indulging in a healthy snack.
I made you wait long enough…
Ingredients
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Cup Oil (canola or vegetable)
- 2 1/4 Cups Sugar
- 2 Cups Raw Zucchini (Grated)
- 3 Cups Flour
- 3 Tsp. Vanilla
- 3 Tsp. Salt
- 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
- 3 Tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 Cup Nuts or Chocolate Chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease bread pan(s) with non-stick baking spray or butter.
- In a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment beat eggs until thick. Add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Continue to mix until everything is combined.
- In a small bowl sift together all of the dry ingredients, omitting the nuts or chocolate chips. Add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients in 3 batches, mixing well after each addition. Once all is added mix until everything is combined.
- Pour batter in to prepared bread pan(s) and bake. If using a large bread pan bake time is approximately 2 hours or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. If baking in smaller pans bake time is 45-60 minutes. Check half way to make sure bread is baking and rotate.
