Sweet Things Remembered

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This is a delicious quick bread that features zucchini, but is also flavored with cinnamon and chopped walnuts.

There are two different types of quick bread that I remember being made the most at my grandparents’ house – banana and zucchini. Usually, Grandma made the banana bread and Grandpa made the zucchini. Looking through all the recipes I have from my grandma’s cookbooks and my grandpa’s recipe basket, this is very obvious. In all of the papers tucked into Grandma’s books, there are so many handwritten copies of her banana bread recipe. Which, shameless plug, if you want to make it, you can find it here. Looking through Grandpa’s recipes, it’s the same thing, only zucchini bread. There are several handwritten copies of that recipe tossed in among all of the others in the basket. I’m not sure why they both had several copies of those recipes written down, but it is amusing to me that they both did it and it happened to be their favorite quick breads that were repeated so many times.

Of those two recipes, my favorite was always the banana. I loved banana anything and still do! I remember as a kid there would be times I’d see a loaf cooling on the table and be excited to have some banana bread only to find out it was zucchini. Kid me was not interested in that. I think my hesitation in wanting to try it was that I thought it wasn’t sweet, probably because it was made with a vegetable. I liked vegetables, but not in a loaf that was supposed to be banana bread. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but eventually I tried zucchini bread and was pleasantly surprised to find I liked it a lot. My go to bread is still the banana (probably because I keep buying bananas and not eating them quickly enough), but I would gladly make Grandpa’s zucchini bread any day of the week. As I share this recipe, you are welcome to write it down 10 to 15 times and keep it wherever you keep your recipes, but there is a print button at the top of the page if that’s easier for you. Whichever option you choose, I hope you enjoy this delicious bread.

Ingredients

• Eggs
• Sugar
• Vegetable Oil
• Vanilla
• Zucchini, coarsely shredded
• All-Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Cinnamon
• Salt
• Walnuts, chopped (optional)

Equipment

• Loaf Pans
• Mixing Bowl and Spatula, or electric mixer
• Measuring Tools
• Box Grater

How to Make Zucchini Bread

• Preheat oven to 350° and grease 2 loaf pans.
  • My grandpa didn’t specify which size of loaf pans to use, but I used 9×5 because that’s what I have. I didn’t have quite enough batter for 2 loaves, but it was too much for 1. My guess is he used 8.5 x 4.5 (this is what Grandma also used for banana bread), so that size will probably work better. If you only have 9×5, you can still make the bread, your loaves will just be a little short.
• Using the coarse side of a box grater, grate zucchini until you have 2 cups. Set aside.
  • My grandpa did not specify whether or not the water needed to be squeezed out of the zucchini. When making my loaves, I decided not to squeeze it out in order to keep the moisture, since this recipe did not have milk or another added liquid.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients – 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp salt. Set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs until foamy, then add 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 tsp of vanilla. Beat until well combined.
• Stir in the coarsely grated zucchini.
• Add the dry ingredient mixture and beat until well combined.
• Fold in 1 cup of chopped walnuts if desired, or other add in preference.
• Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake for about 1 hour. The loaves should pass the toothpick test when done.
• Let cool 5-10 minutes in the pans, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Questions You May Have

Zucchini Bread

Recipe by rebekahdearmondDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

loaves

Prep time

20

minutes

Baking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

• 3 eggs

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 cups zucchini, coarsely grated

• 2 cups flour

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350° and grease 2 loaf pans.
• Using the coarse side of a box grater, grate zucchini until you have 2 cups. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients – 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp salt. Set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs until foamy, then add 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 tsp of vanilla. Beat until well combined.
• Stir in the coarsely grated zucchini.
• Add the dry ingredient mixture and beat until well combined.
• Fold in 1 cup of chopped walnuts if desired, or other add in preference.
• Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake for about 1 hour. The loaves should pass the toothpick test when done.
• Let cool 5-10 minutes in the pans, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!