Zucchini Bread

One of my adventures last weekend was trip to the Trail's End market, a combination farmers market/antique store/livestock sale/Mennonite furniture shop. It's sprawling, and they sell so many neat things there. The friend who took me likes to go at 3pm, since they close at 4 and a lot of people are trying to get rid of their wares by 3. We got some really good deals on vegetables - so much so that I wasn't sure what to do with everything I brought home.





















I bought this enormous zucchini for 50 cents, and planned to stuff it and bake it (similar to this)
But the I realized I had the perfect zucchini to bake with, since it would easily yield cups and cups when shredded.

After a quick internet search, I found a recipe that suited me (and decided to make a loaf of bread instead of muffins). The author suggests using a cup of canola oil, in place of butter. They seemed to think it tastes less good that way, but both John and I think this bread is delicious. So much so that we both can't stop eating it. I was still left with about a half pound of zucchini after taking the three shredded cups for this recipe.































Not the most elegant picture, I know, but this tastes so much better than it looks.



Zucchini Bread
adapted from Simply Recipes

• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 1 cup canola oil
  
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used two cups all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat)
  
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

2. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes (depending on the speed of your oven), or until the top and edges are brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Cool on a wire wrack.

*You could add nuts, raisins, etc. to this bread with ease.