Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Another gold medal...

...in the zucchini recipe event! Last night I made zucchini bread from a friend's recipe. When I had hers at a potluck, it was the most wonderful zucchini bread I had ever tasted, so I asked for her recipe. She brought it - and another loaf - to my sister's bridal shower. Unfortunately, the loaf she brought to the shower had raisins in it, as well as chocolate chips (the first batch I tasted had ALL chocolate chips - YUM), and I saw the recipe calls for a cup of each. I am not a big fan of raisins in any setting, so I was tempted to use all chocolate chips in my first attempt, but my desire for greater nutritional content won out. So instead of raisins I used a cup of our dried cherries, and I have to say this stuff is even better than my friend's all-chocolate-chip version!
Below is the recipe, with my modifications in parentheses and italics.

Zucchini Bread
3 packed cups grated zucchini (I use the big suckers for this, grating skins, seeds and all. But use right after picking, or the skin gets hard.)
3 eggs
1 cup oil (I used a bit less, between 3/4 and 7/8 of a cup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (which I totally forgot and left out!)
1 cup raisins (I used home-dried Royal Anne cherries, which got plump and juicy, adding the perfect tangy zing)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups sugar
Mix the above together thoroughly; set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together:
3 cups flour (I used one cup unbleached and two cups whole wheat, and you'd never guess it)
1 teaspoon each: salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine thoroughly. Pour into two greased loaf pans and bake in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes (mine took 65 minutes to be done in the middle). Cool on a rack for five minutes before turning loaves out of pans. Cool completely before slicing (if you can). Try not to pig out!

That's it for now from . . .

12 comments:

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Ummmm! No dried cherries here but I absolutely love crasins! That would work wonderfully I think... too bad I will be in Reno this weekend; I will have to email the recipe to myself so I dont forget about it :)
Thank you for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy, we have eaten almost all our dried cherries here!

Tammy W. said...

Oh Yum Michelle. I absolutely love Zucchini bread - so I will definitely have to try this one is looks delicious.

Kara said...

Ummm! I read this right before going to the store, so I made sure I picked up some chocolate chips. I'll make some tomorrow, thanks!!!!! Had a few big ones get away from me...I swear they get huge overnight.

Kara said...

Sooo good! I made them into muffins 400 F for 20 minutes. Perfect for taking on a picnic lunch, got go make some sandwiches now! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!

Jen and Rich Johnson said...

You're gaining quite the reputation as a gourmet chef! My wife made one of your recipes and I must say, I think it was very good! If I had taken time to actually chew it, I would be sure about it. I forgot what it was (I ate it really fast), I think it had eggs and zuchini in it? Pancake-like appearance. Anyone? Beuler?

Rich

http://whisperingpinesshetlands.blogspot.com/

Deb said...

Thanks for sharing this recipe Michelle ~ we love zucchini bread; I can't wait to try this.

Kathy said...

So when's the tea? Do we have to wear hats? ;-)

Wasn't August 6th National Sneak Some Zucchini On Your Neighbor's Porch Night?

A :-) said...

I'm with Kathy, when's the tea? :-D I'm going to try that recipe at some point - without the chocolate (allergic) - it sounds very yummy!

Michelle said...

Ah Rich, I'm blushing! Those were zucchini patties; nothing "gourmet" about them, but yes, they're wonderful right out of the skillet. Happy to share good recipes, and any of you are welcome for tea anytime!

Tina T-P said...

Oh, that looks yummy & I happen to have this wonderful package of dried cherries.... :-) T.

Juliann said...

Thank you Michelle!
This is my first year growing zucchini and I'm not sure what to do with it now that I've got it. I've printed this out and can't wait to try it!