CreativeCritters Blog: Before- a giant zucchini, after- delicious zucchini bread

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Before- a giant zucchini, after- delicious zucchini bread

So I was checking for ripe veggies in my garden the other day, like I do almost every day, and found this huge 19" long zucchini that had somehow escaped my attention for the last several weeks. I normally pick them when they're much smaller. I swear there are magical fairies in the garden who make giant vegetables appear overnight. I'm not complaining though- this was a nice zucchini. So nice (and big) I had to take it's picture.

When they get this big I usually make zucchini bread. I started with a basic recipe and "kicked it up a notch" after some experimentation. You guys get the "kicked up version".

ZUCCHINI BANANA RAISIN BREAD

3 cups shredded zucchini (seeds removed)
2 ripe bananas, sliced
1 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raisins

1) Move oven rack to lowest position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottoms only of two 8"X4" loaf pans or one 9"X5" loaf pan with cooking spray.
2) In large bowl, stir zucchini, bananas, sugar, oil, vanilla, almond extract, and eggs until well mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients. Divide batter evenly between 8" pans or pour into 9" pan.
3) Bake 8" loaves 50-60 minutes, 9" loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.
4) Loosen sides of loaf from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate for up to 10 days.

Of course I couldn't find my loaf pans, so I ended up using an odd sized pan, but it worked out just fine. Normally this recipe calls for 2 or 3 medium zucchinis, but my one giant zucchini made more than enough. I also lined my pan with nonstick aluminum foil, which made removing the bread much easier. This is what the end result looks like- YUMMY!