My daughter recently sent me a picture of her in her garden. She’s very excited about the zucchini which are nearly ready to be picked and asked me what she can do with such a bountiful harvest. I told her to make zucchini bread (which can be frozen). As she loves to bake, this sounded like a great suggestion to her.
Just for fun, here’s a simple recipe. Here’s a helpful hint: shred the zucchini ahead of time and squeeze out the extra moisture with paper towels.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons apple juice, orange juice, milk, water, or the liquid of your choice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, optional
- 1-3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 cups grated or shredded zucchini, medium packed
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cup golden raisins or currants
- Optional 2 tablespoons light brown sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan.
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the brown sugar, liquid of choice, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- Whisk the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into the flour, then add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients in the bowl, stirring or beating gently until smooth.
- Stir in the zucchini, walnuts, and raisins or currants.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it if necessary. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Bake the bread for 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top (just under the crust) may seem a bit sticky; but so long as the toothpick doesn’t reveal wet batter, it’s done.
- Remove the bread from the oven and cool it in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely. For best results, don’t slice until it’s cool.
- Store the bread at cool room temperature, well wrapped, for several days; freeze for longer storage.
Well, now I’m going to have to go out and buy some zucchini and make bread, which I love. Or book a ticket to visit my daughter. Maybe I can do both! Hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy!
Cathy McDavid has been penning Westerns for Harlequin since 2005. With over 55 titles in print and 1.6 million-plus books sold, Cathy is also a member of the prestigious Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll. This “almost” Arizona native and mother of grown twins is married to her own real-life sweetheart. After leaving the corporate world seven years ago, she now spends her days penning stories about good looking cowboys riding the range, busting broncs, and sweeping gals off their feet — oops, no. Make that winning the hearts of feisty, independent women who give the cowboys a run for their money. It a tough job, but she’s willing to make the sacrifice.
Sounds delicious. I haven’t had zucchini bread in years.
Me, either. Until now!
You can also make mock apple pie,
Oooh, I’ll have to look that up.
Good morning! Sounds delicious! I usually mix zucchini with squash. It makes a delicious and pretty dish!
(By the way, I love that I don’t have to put in my name and email in anymore before submitting! Yay!)
I like to mix the two as well, Tracy 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe. I would go visit my daughter and let her do the baking.
What a great idea!
You can grate it and freeze it for later in the year. Zuke fritters…
Oh, that’s good to know!
this sounds wonderful. thanks for sharing. i love the idea of adding another liquid besides water.
I was wondering about the orange juice 🙂
I just sliced one, browned it with sliced onion and made a to die for fritatta with it! My FIL loved it!
That sounds delicious. I’ll have to try it 🙂
Sounds yummy.
It does!
Love this. My youngest daughter too planted zucchini, which she doesn’t eat, and has an abundant harvest. She is making zucchini bread and sharing her abundance with others.
That is so cool 🙂
I love recipes and especially ones such as this one. I always get some zucchini from friends and look for new ways to use it.
Zucchini bread is one of my favorites!
I made several loaves of applesauce zucchini bread and put them in the freezer. My grandchildren love it.
I love the idea of adding applesauce. Yum!
I quit using zucchini when I found a recipe for Green Tomato Bread in a tractor/harvest magazine quite a few years ago. It’s always a hit when I make it, hand samples and the recipe out at Farmers Markets toward the end of the season when green tomatos are abundant and frost is closing in.
Green tomato bread? I’m going to have to look that up!
I don’t grow zucchini anymore because I can’t keep up with them. I did have a good bread recipe and one for zucchini bars and one for zucchini cookies. The cookies were wonderful. If we are given zucchini, I always make the cookies. They are delicious and people don’t realize they are getting their vegetables.
Yum, I think zucchini cookies sound great!