Zach's grandparents visited Quogue this weekend, and brought with them a GINORMOUS bounty from their garden. Zucchini that could easily be mistaken for dumbbells. Cucumbers that could come in handy if someone tried to pick a fight with you (one knock on the head with one of those suckers, and your terrorizer would be out cold). And too many baby carrots to count.
I made it my mission Sunday to try and make a dent in the zucchinis. I can proudly say there are only 6 zucchinis sitting on Zach's counter instead of 7. What a GINORMOUS dent I made.
Anyway... the recipe.
Here are the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350.
Go ahead and shred your zuchinni. You'll need two cups, which was almost one, entire, killer zucchini for me, but could be two small ones for someone with normal sized produce.
Next, grab yourself three eggs. Crack em' in a big bowl.
Add 1 cup of oil, then admit how jealous you are of my measuring cups. Mix well after adding each ingredient to ensure the perfect texture a.k.a. no lumps.
1 cup of sugar next. Then, again with the jealousy thing.
Add the vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Then, if you are feeling extra adventurous, sprinkle the whole thing with freshly ground nutmeg. It gives the bread a yummy kick.
Mix it all up, then dump the 2 cups of shredded zucchini in.
Now for the one dry ingredient. 1 cup flour.
One final whisk, then pour in a greased and floured pan. I didn't have a loaf pan, so I used this square one instead. Let me explain the numbers....1. This is the plain, ole' zucchini bread recipe. Easy and good.
2. Zucchini banana muffins: I portioned out about 1 cup batter, then added half of a smashed banana and mixed it all up. I placed a dainty banana slice on top so I would know which was which they came out (and because I thought it would be pretty).
3. Zucchini date muffins: I portioned out another equal bit of batter and added about 1/2 of chopped dates. Once again, I added a whole date on the top to distinguish.
No bakers job is done until the dishwasher is loaded. :o( But, dishes are the perfect thing to do to keep from sneaking a peak at the fragrant bread and muffins in the oven.
The muffins were done first. They took about 25-30 minutes.
The bread took a little longer-- about 30-35 minutes.
The muffins with the added banana were the biggest hit. There was just a hint of banana flavor, but the added moistness was perfect. Delish!
Did you know zucchini is actually a fruit? That is why it works in bread, I suppose.Zucchini Bread Recipe
3 whole Eggs
1 cup Oil
1-¾ cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
Sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups Grated Zucchini
3 cups Flour
Extra goodies:
1/2 banana OR 1/2 cup dates or any dried fruit for three muffins
(2 mashed bananas or 2 cups dried dates if you wanted to spice up the entire batter)
Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together in the order shown, mixing well between each ingredient. Add extra goodies if you wanna. Pour equal amounts of mixture into a greased and floured loaf pan/muffin tin. Watch the time (varies depending on pan used). Enjoy!
