Zucchini Bread

Yowza! What to do with all the zucchini my garden produced this year!

Zucchini is one of the easiest vegetables to grow and as such, it's known far and wide among home gardeners for overwhelming crops. 

When cooking, zucchini is treated as a vegetable and is usually cooked and served as a savory or side dish. 
Botanically, however, zucchini is really a fruit.

Not only is the zucchini versatile to cook with, but it’s also loaded with nutrients and vitamins that can help prevent cancer and heart disease. 

And zucchini has more potassium than a banana and is low in calories!

The world’s largest zucchini on record was 69 1/2 inches long and weighed 65 lbs. Bernard Lavery of Plymouth Devon, UK, grew it.  The longest zucchini measured 2.39 m (7 ft 10.3 in) on 17 October 2005 and was grown by Gurdial Singh Kanwal (originally from India) in his garden in Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Freshly picked zucchini from my garden

But biggest is NOT best when eating or cooking with zucchini. The most flavorful zucchinis are small to medium--small-sized and the darker the skin, the richer the nutrients.

Washed and ready for grating

History:

Zucchini, Cucurbita pepo, is a member of the cucumber and melon family. People of Central and South America have been eating zucchini for several thousand years, but the zucchini we know today is really a variety of summer squash developed in Italy, formerly referred to as green Italian squash. The Zucchini was actually first brought to the United States in the 1920s by Italian immigrants. And although April 25th is National Zucchini Bread Day, zucchini in my area, the Midwest, and Ohio, does not come in until summer! 

Shred the zucchini 

Zucchini Nut Bread

PRINT RECIPE 

Ingredients

1 cup olive or vegetable oil

2 cups sugar 
4 eggs, beaten 
2 cups grated zucchini 
4 cups all-purpose flour 
2 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
⅓ cup milk 
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans, (optional )

First, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and zucchini

Directions:

Butter and flour baking pans.  Grate unpeeled zucchini, but do not drain!  Mix the first 4 ingredients, oil, sugar, eggs, and zucchini in a large mixing bowl.  Add milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix well.
  

Slowly add flour mixture to zucchini mixture

In a separate bowl, mix the second 4 ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  

Slowly and a little at a time, add dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture.  Mix well.
Add  nuts, (optional).

Pour into greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 350º 

Add chopped nuts if desired

Do Not Over Bake.
Times are approximate and should be used as a guideline for your oven.

2 Large loaves: Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.

3 small loaves: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
Muffins: Bake for 16-20 minutes.

6 mini loaves: Bake on 2 racks for 30 minutes. Rotate ½ way through.

Cinnamon Sugar Coating
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon

Grease loaf pans.  Mix together a little cinnamon and white sugar. Dust greased a loaf pan with cinnamon mixture.  Pour in batter.  Bake bread half-way through then sprinkle top of batter with cinnamon mixture.  The top will come out with a slightly cinnamony sweet crunch and bottom will have a cinnamon flavor without the crunch. 

Crumb Topping

½ cup regular oats                            ½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar                           ¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour                                       1 cup walnuts (optional)

Mix topping ingredients together until crumbly. Add topping 15 to 20 minutes after the bread has been baking, or about halfway through baking time.

PRINT RECIPE 

Zucchini Bread Variations:

• Use half brown and half white sugar
• Omit the nuts
• Add raisins
• Use half oil and half applesauce (sweet, unsweetened, or cinnamon)
• Add apple pie or pumpkin pie spices
• Add crumb topping
• Add cinnamon-sugar coating
• Add 3 cups of zucchini instead of 2 cups

I usually try to grate a few small zucchini and freeze them to make bread during the winter months.  You can also cut the zucchini into chunks and freeze to add to soups, stews, and hearty casseroles during months when the snow is piling up and the cold winds are howling. 

Brrrrr, I just made myself cold!

Elizabeth

Young small zucchini, ready to pick

Other Posts:

Best Banana Bread Ever!

Fall Leaf Place Cards 

Easy Seed Storage Container

Homemade Vegetable Soup