We’ve got zucchini coming out of our wazoos, people.  Hub’s garden has been spitting the stuff out like it’s getting paid by the pound.  And we all know how hubs feels about wasting his bounty.  Need a reminder?  Check out this blog post and you’ll understand my pain.

So, I’ve been cooking with it.  And cooking with it.  And cooking with it.  And there’s still so much left.  So naturally, the compulsive eater in me screamed, “Mindy!!  Duh!  BAKE with it!”  How on earth did I forget about baking?  Zucchini bread (and it’s gooier counterpart banana bread) is pretty much a gift from the gods as far as I’m concerned.  I mean, you get your veg and your carb and your sweet all in one moist little delectable package.   So read on for a to-die-for recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder (I used 3 tsps. and omitted the baking soda because…well…I didn’t have any.)
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsps. vanilla
• 3-4 cups grated zucchini, firmly packed (do not drain or squeeze!)

Directions:

1. Grease up two 8×4 in. loaf pans and preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. Sift your flour, salt, baking soda, powder and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat the eggs, oil and both sugars together  in a large bowl until creamed.  Slowly add your sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture until everything is incorporated and ooey gooey.  Stir in your zucchini until well-mixed.  Pour into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes.  Mine always take closer to an hour but I begin checking the bread at 45 minutes because I detest dry zucchini bread.  Detest, I tell you.
5. Cool in pans for no more than 20 minutes and then remove from pan to completely cool.
6. Eat.  Then put away in the fridge.  Then pull it out of the fridge and eat again.  Then put it away swearing you won’t eat any until the next morning.  And then pull it out, cut a piece and throw it in the toaster.  Then put it away.  For the time being.

Give this Zucchini Bread recipe the ol’ college try.  Unless, like myself,  you didn’t finish college.  In which case give it the ol’ year-and-a-half of college try and you won’t be disappointed.  Looking for other ways to use up that zucchini?  Try out my Zucchini Cornbread Casserole!

Mindy