It is that time of the year for zucchini again! In the past I have had friends give me some from their own backyard. Next year, I am hoping to grow some in my backyard since my kids will be just a tad older and I can let them all play together outside while I tend to my duties. In the meantime, I found a monster zucchini at my local farmer’s market. I bought it thinking I might get a few zucchini breads out of it to freeze for later. Take a look at at this baby. This thing only cost me a dollar! 9 cups of shredded zucchini, I found out later, for one buck! That’s enough to make 9 zucchini breads! You can’t find zucchinis like that at just any old Walmart. Check out your local farmer’s market if you haven’t already. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find there.
Okay, so now for the recipe I used. For zucchini bread, I always refer back to one of my first cookbooks, given to me as a wedding gift. It’s the “new” Better Homes and Gardens CookBook.Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
¼ cup cooking oil
1 egg
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:
Grease bottom and sides of 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Set aside. (This was about the point that I was doing the math and realizing we did not have nearly enough sugar to be making 9 zucchini breads, so I had to send my hubster out to the store to pick up a bag for me)
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
In another medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, zucchini, cooking oil, (I used my coconut oil on this one and loved it) and egg. Add dry mixture to zucchini mixture & stir until moistened. Fold in nuts.
Spoon into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 mins. (I used many different kinds of cooking pans, including my mini muffin pan. If you do this, cut down on your cooking time. My mini muffins were done in just 15 minutes!) Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. Check these out! I froze some, ate some for breakfast with the family the next day, and took some to some of our neighbors. They were delicious!
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Side note: I used a grater dish from IKEA that I wanted to show off, because I loved it so much. WHOMP! Here it is! Isn’t it so cute? Check this out. Grate up cheese, veges, or whatever, and it falls right into the bowl it is attached to. (There is a fine shred and a coarse shred) If it is full to the top that is 4 cups. And it comes with a lid for storing your food after it is shredded. These are going for 4.99 right now. Okay, sales pitch is over. And NO, we are not getting any money for saying that I liked this grater. 🙂 Look at all of our splendid zucchini after it was shredded! (This is my huge 34 cup bowl, by the way) It did occur to me half way through that I could have gotten out my food processor and saved some time, but by then I was half way into my arm work out with my grater, so I decided not to stop. :0) It also occured to me that I should probably be saving some of these huge seeds, rinsing them and drying them out on a plate to be planted next year. Little tip, if you are going to be doing this: you know they are dry enough when they crack if you try to snap them. Once they are dry you can store them in a labeled bag.
Kelly Polizzi says
wow thats awesome! but do keep in mind when it comes to zucchini, smaller is better! (bigger is bitter!)
MommaHughes says
Oh okay. Thank you Kelly, for mentioning that. I did read that today actually. 🙂 It was suggesting that a bigger one is great for the seeds when you will be replanting, but the smaller ones are great for cooking. I guess if you are adding sugar (as in this case) it works out okay. Our bread ended up yummy still, but I will keep that in mind in the future.
Kelly Polizzi says
I have made zucchini bread with large zucchini too and it has turned out fine. I think you’re right, it’s the sugar that combats the bitterness, if there’s any.
Ethiopianmomma says
Alisha~ I have HUGE Zucchini coming out of my ears. I have frozen BAGS of it for rest of the year. I know people have said that larger Zucchini is bitter, but I have not found that to be a problem. Larger Zucchini can be a bit watery, but all you have to do is scrap out a little of the seedy part. If you are making breads and such large Zucchini will be fine. I used one today (a really big one) and sauted it with some sesame oil and a bunch of other veggies in a wok….not bitter at all. I have heard that before, but never had a problem with it around here! Way to go on all that bread. 🙂