Eat Well, Live Happy: Zucchini Bread

One of my favorite foods to have for breakfast is Zucchini Bread with cream cheese spread on it. Today I made some and I can't wait to have it for breakfast tomorrow! I hadn't made this recipe in years and forgot how simple it is. I used a food processor to shred two zucchinis which instantly gave me 4 cups, so I made a double recipe (4 loaves). My loaves came out a little flatter than I had hoped, so the only thing I would do differently next time is make a double recipe and make 3 loaves out of it instead of 4.

The best thing about this recipe is that it has instructions on how to adapt the recipe for orange or apple bread as well. I've never tried the orange bread, but the apple bread is delicious! My mom prefers this bread refrigerated, so that is usually what we do. It's also great to freeze and take out the night before you want to eat it. I have three in the freezer now that will be going on vacation with us in a few weeks. I've also made these into mini loaves, which make great gifts!

Update - July 2021: I made this Zucchini Bread recipe yesterday for the first time in years. I had 3 medium-sized zucchini and shredded them all in my food processor and then measured - I had 8 cups of zucchini, so I had to make 4 recipes. Luckily I have two very large mixing bowls which I used to mix everything together. I made 3 regular size loaves with the first double batch, and 2 regular size loaves and 3 mini loaves with the second batch. The breads came out a much better size using a double recipe to make 3 loaves instead of 4 (the recipe says a single recipe makes 2 loaves but then the loaves are a bit short). Doing it this way means you will have to increase your baking time - they will take over an hour to bake. Next time I will increase the temp to 325˚ when baking them. Either way, you can't go wrong - this zucchini bread is so good!

Three-Way Quick Nut Loaves

From Kitchen Aid Convection Oven Cookbook, page 72

Depending on the season, this moist nut bread can be made with oranges, apples, or zucchini. Whatever the flavor, the bread will be easier to slice if it stands for at least a day. Wrapped well, it keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week, or you can freeze it for longer storage.

2 cups orange, apple, or zucchini mixture (recipes follow)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

3 eggs

1½ cups sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Make orange, apple, or zucchini mixture.

In a bowl, combine flour, salt, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nuts; set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs lightly; add sugar and oil and stir until blended. Stir in vanilla and orange, apple, or zucchini mixture. Add flour mixture all at once and stir just until evenly moistened. Spread batter into 2 greased and floured 4½” x 8½” loaf pans.

Bake in preheated 300˚ convection oven for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out on wire racks to cool completely. Wrap well and refrigerate or freeze. Makes 2 loaves.

ORANGE MIXTURE:

From 4 large oranges, grate 1 tablespoon orange peel; then cut off and discard remaining peel plus all the white membrane. Remove seeds (if any) and finely chop pulp; you should have 2 cups. Combine pulp and grated peel.

APPLE MIXTURE:

Peel, core, and shred 3 or 4 medium-size tart apples; you should have 2 cups. Stir 1 teaspoon lemon juice into apples.

ZUCCHINI MIXTURE:

Coarsely shred about 2 medium-size zucchini; you should have 2 cups (packed lightly).