Monday, August 29, 2011

Zucchini Bread (finally!)

By: Laura

Let me begin with a rather sad story; a few months ago, I planted my garden.  You may have caught my post about it.  In that garden I planted my favorite vegetable, zucchini (it's not the vegetable itself I like, it's the zucchini bread I love!)   This year I opted to buy a zucchini plant that was already grown a bit instead of the usual seeds.  I watched the plant take over the garden and each day looked with anticipation for that lovely squash to pop up.  And pop up they did, only this time, there was some mushy-ness going on: a whole lot of it.  My zucchini would only grow to be about five inches long and then gross rotting came into play.  I called my Grandma on the matter, only to find out that I had squash rot (literally the squash and vine rot, no solution)  There was no choice but to pull up the plant.  I did so with tears in my eyes because this year, I wouldn't get my bounty of zucchini to make my famous zucchini bread.

But, this story doesn't end all that badly because my Grandma came to the rescue by sending me three huge zucchini!  Bless you, Grandma.  So this Sunday, I got out the mini chopper, my Kitchen Aid mixer, and, of course, my zucchini and got to work.  Here is how the story ends...

Yum!

Begin with peeled zucchini and chop it up into pieces small enough to fit into your food processor.

When you don't have a food processor, (mine broke last year!) then simply take out your $3.99 food chopper and go to town.  (it takes a long time to get to town with this little guy, but it's much better than hand grating!) P.S.  sorry about the picture, I don't know what happened here.

Ready the dry ingredients: flour, soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. 

Mix the eggs, sugar and oil

Get that batter creamy!

Add the chopped-to-perfection zucchini

Mix in the dry ingredients and there you have it!

Put the batter into 3 small pans or 2 large pans for one hour at 325 degrees.

And cut a slice of this moist, delicious bread. 



And that's how easy it is!  It's a great snack or perfect for breakfast on the go, so give it a try.  You can even do a chocolate version that I highly recommend. (I've included that recipe below).  

Zucchini Bread
Recipe courtesy of Grandma

3 eggs
1 cup oil (I use canola oil)
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla

* Mix dry ingredients and add to the above batter
3 cups of flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking power

Bake one hour at 325 degrees. Grease pans with shortening and flour for easy removal.  Leave loafs in pans for a few minutes after baking before removing.


Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Recipe courtesy of Grandma

3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups zucchini, grated
1 cup nuts, optional 

* Mix dry ingredients and add to the above batter
2 cups of flour
6 T. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tsp. flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and zucchini.  Add the dry ingredients to the batter.  Stir only enough to blend in the dry ingredients.  In another bowl, coat the chocolate chips with the 2 tsp. of flour.  This helps to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.  Pour the batter into two generously greased and floured pans.  Bake for 60 - 70 minutes.  Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes.


1 comment:

  1. Do you want to know something? I've had squash rot the last 2 years. Who said it was easy to grow zukes? Not so! This bread, however, looks lovely. Thanks for posting! xo

    ReplyDelete

Leave us a message! Tell us what you think!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Zucchini Bread (finally!)

By: Laura

Let me begin with a rather sad story; a few months ago, I planted my garden.  You may have caught my post about it.  In that garden I planted my favorite vegetable, zucchini (it's not the vegetable itself I like, it's the zucchini bread I love!)   This year I opted to buy a zucchini plant that was already grown a bit instead of the usual seeds.  I watched the plant take over the garden and each day looked with anticipation for that lovely squash to pop up.  And pop up they did, only this time, there was some mushy-ness going on: a whole lot of it.  My zucchini would only grow to be about five inches long and then gross rotting came into play.  I called my Grandma on the matter, only to find out that I had squash rot (literally the squash and vine rot, no solution)  There was no choice but to pull up the plant.  I did so with tears in my eyes because this year, I wouldn't get my bounty of zucchini to make my famous zucchini bread.

But, this story doesn't end all that badly because my Grandma came to the rescue by sending me three huge zucchini!  Bless you, Grandma.  So this Sunday, I got out the mini chopper, my Kitchen Aid mixer, and, of course, my zucchini and got to work.  Here is how the story ends...

Yum!

Begin with peeled zucchini and chop it up into pieces small enough to fit into your food processor.

When you don't have a food processor, (mine broke last year!) then simply take out your $3.99 food chopper and go to town.  (it takes a long time to get to town with this little guy, but it's much better than hand grating!) P.S.  sorry about the picture, I don't know what happened here.

Ready the dry ingredients: flour, soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. 

Mix the eggs, sugar and oil

Get that batter creamy!

Add the chopped-to-perfection zucchini

Mix in the dry ingredients and there you have it!

Put the batter into 3 small pans or 2 large pans for one hour at 325 degrees.

And cut a slice of this moist, delicious bread. 



And that's how easy it is!  It's a great snack or perfect for breakfast on the go, so give it a try.  You can even do a chocolate version that I highly recommend. (I've included that recipe below).  

Zucchini Bread
Recipe courtesy of Grandma

3 eggs
1 cup oil (I use canola oil)
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla

* Mix dry ingredients and add to the above batter
3 cups of flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking power

Bake one hour at 325 degrees. Grease pans with shortening and flour for easy removal.  Leave loafs in pans for a few minutes after baking before removing.


Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Recipe courtesy of Grandma

3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups zucchini, grated
1 cup nuts, optional 

* Mix dry ingredients and add to the above batter
2 cups of flour
6 T. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tsp. flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and zucchini.  Add the dry ingredients to the batter.  Stir only enough to blend in the dry ingredients.  In another bowl, coat the chocolate chips with the 2 tsp. of flour.  This helps to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.  Pour the batter into two generously greased and floured pans.  Bake for 60 - 70 minutes.  Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes.


1 comment:

  1. Do you want to know something? I've had squash rot the last 2 years. Who said it was easy to grow zukes? Not so! This bread, however, looks lovely. Thanks for posting! xo

    ReplyDelete

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