Zucchini Bread

After traveling all last week, the hubby and I returned to Minnesota to see that our community garden (a.k.a. The Farmette) was overflowing with produce! Finally weeks of lugging water out there and weeding have turned into thick rows of sweet lettuce, peapods, and monster zucchini. We're going to have to zucchini having coming out of our ears! I'm really not much of a gardener, but my husband is really into it, and it's not quite as bad as I thought it would be. He does most of the work, and I go out and do what I can when he's out of town. It is a nice excuse to be outside during the lovely summer weather.

Last night, I took some of the bigger zucchinis and decided to make zucchini bread for breakfast and for the hubs to bring into work. I'm going to try to tackle another one of our large zucchini today and make it into bread and then place that in the freezer for later in the season when our zucchini aren't as proliferative.

This recipe I found awhile ago on Cooking Friend, which I really like and have used many times. It's super moist, not overly sweet, and on the healthier end of the spectrum (as far as sweet breads go). You can add nuts or seeds to the batter if you wish, although I'm not a fan of hard chunks in my baked goods, but that's me. Adapt this recipe to your own liking!

Zucchini Bread

From Cooking Friend

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

3 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2 cups coarsely grated zucchini

1.) Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two loaf pans, size of your choosing. (Smaller pans will yield a higher loaf, larger pans will give you a shorter loaf - or try to make mini loafs and adjust the baking time accordingly).

2.) In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

3.) In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, water, and yogurt. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.

4.) Slowly, add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Then, mix in the grated zucchini.

5.) Pour your batter into the prepared pans. Place both loaf pans in the oven and cook for 55-60 minutes, or until a tooth pick placed in the center of the bread comes out clean.

6.) Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes before attempting to remove the bread from the loaf pans.