Zucchini Bread

Sometimes I can win against the squash bugs and actually get a good harvest of zucchini. If not, I can usually buy it for a great price at our local farmers’ market. I buy enough to shred some to freeze for future use. And then I make zucchini bread!

This is one our favorite quick bread recipes. I’ve tried several zucchini bread recipes and always return to this one. I think it’s the combination of lemon and nutmeg that give it the flavor we like.

You may use either fresh or frozen zucchini.

We eat one loaf within a few days, and the rest goes into the freezer for later. Because lately the daughters are gone frequently, I’ve been cutting the loaves in half, so we only take out half a loaf from the freezer at a time. We are not eating it as fast with just Grampy and I around most of the time, so this way nothing gets wasted.

I love to top my zucchini bread with cream cheese, and Grampy and the daughters put peanut butter on theirs. It makes a great quick and easy breakfast, or a nice afternoon snack. Making snack foods at home is a great way to save money!

To make this Zucchini Bread recipe, you’ll need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (we use Pink Himalayan Salt)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Then, in a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. To avoid clumps of dry ingredients, I sift them through a strainer like this one.

In another mixing bowl combine the sugar, shredded zucchini, cooking oil, eggs and lemon peel. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Stir in the walnuts.

Divide the batter between two greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick near the center. When the toothpick comes out clean, the bread is done.

Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, and then remove the bread from the pans to cool completely.

Wrap and store overnight before slicing. (Honestly, we never do this. We start slicing and sampling as soon as we take it out of the pan. 🙂 But it is better after sitting overnight.)

I hope you’ll give this recipe a try! 

Notes: I have found a great deal on lemon peel in the bulk herb and spice section of our Natural Grocers store where I live. The small bottles of lemon peel from the grocery store can be expensive.