Zucchini

I know that it is only February, but if you’re like me, and you probably aren’t as that would just be weird, you probably still have some summer zucchini just lying around the house. We had two: a smaller one most would consider large and a large one most would consider unermesslich.

Well, I tossed the small one as it had a soft bottom, but the large one was still in perfect shape and ready to be made into a buttload of zucchini bread. So I rifled through all of our cookbooks, and we have a lot, and not one had a recipe for zucchini bread. Odd. So I traversed the internet on a quest for a recipe that sounded familiar, as in one that I could easily recognize the ingredients being put in. And I found one, well, one that I could easily doctor to make it my own. However I hit a snag when I realized we didn’t have any walnuts, but I carried on without them.

So I shredded the big boy after cutting it into six portions, stirred everything together and baked it all up. I had to double the recipe because my zucchini made over 6 cups shredded, which meant I would be able to make two loaves. However, it ended up making two 9x5 loaves and 4 mini loaves. I sliced up the minis and sent them with my partner to choir practice at church, where they were devoured afterwards. The two big loaves on the other hand, are ours.

Here is the recipe I used, halved for the regular person. Feel free to change out the flour to either all all-purpose or all whole wheat flour depending on your preference. I like the half-and-half combination in this earthy bread.

 Cory’s Zucchini Bread


3 cups shredded zucchini (2 to 3 medium)
1⅔ cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 (8x4-inch) loaf pans or 1 (9x5-inch) loaf pan or 1 (four mini) loafs pan with shortening or cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, stir zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients except walnuts. Stir in walnuts. Divide batter evenly between 8-inch pans or pour into 9-inch pan.

3. Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, and four mini loaves at about 40 minutes, checking every 5 minutes thereafter, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on cooling rack 10 minutes.

4. Loosen sides of loaves from pans, using a thin knife if necessary; remove from pans and place top side up on cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.