Tuesday, July 26, 2011

How I Make Zucchini Bread



A couple of weeks ago I made about 8 loaves of zucchini bread thanks to these babies:


We don't have a garden but we love it when our friends who do deliver summer's bounty to our door.  What people forget, I assume, is that zucchini multiplies by a gagillion overnight and they must find people to give it to.  And those people are us.  :)

We were going on vacation but were stopping to see friends along the way, so of course we had to bring them something.  And my in-laws/grandmother-in-law were taking care of our dog so we needed to get them something.  So I got out my loaf pans and got baking.  Everyone absolutely loved this recipe.  I'm not one to toot my own horn, but it is pretty amazing.  They told me how much they don't normally like this type of bread because it's too dense, not sweet enough, etc.  I've never met a bread I didn't like so I couldn't relate, but I did want to share my recipe with you just in case you're looking for a great version of this bread.

The first thing you should do is shred your zukes.  Do you mind if I call them "zukes"?  It's much shorter to type and more fun to say.  I like to use my food processor because it only takes about 4 seconds but if you don't have one, or if you need a bicep workout, by all means use your regular shredder.  After the zukes are shredded, place them in a colander, on paper towells, or some other method of draining so you can get as much water out of them as possible.  Like so:

While you're preparing the recipe most of the water should drain off, and you can squeeze it to help it along.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
*you could use any combination of flours that you prefer
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3-4 tsp cinnamon [at least 3!]
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zuke

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325.  Lightly oil [or butter] and flour 2 loaf pans.  I also did a combo of 1 large loaf pan and 4 mini loaves, just don't bake the mini loaves as long.

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients.  In another bowl, mix the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined.  Fold in the zuke.

Bake the large loaf pans for around 50 minutes and the minis for around 30. 

This bread is amazing.  It kind of smells like a snickerdoodle [because of the cinnamon] and stays moist for 3-4 days.  I stored it at room temperature in an air-tight container.

No comments:

Post a Comment