Holy Zucchini

Is your garden spitting out zucchini the size of baseball bats? Oh, just ours? Either way, we've got a LOT of zucchini coming our way and there's only so much we can give away; might as well pull up some recipes!

My favorite zucchini recipe brings me right back to childhood. I remember my Mom making huge batches of zucchini bread to give to friends and neighbors for the holidays; the smell of the spices is the smell of Christmas.

While we do make some bread during the holidays as a tradition, we end up making a ton of it during the summer thanks to our garden. 

Mom's Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup unpeeled zucchini, shredded
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 tsp. lemon zest

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a loaf pan, set aside. 
• Sift flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg. 
• In another bowl, mix egg, zucchini, oil, and lemon zest. 
• Add wet to dry and mix well.
• Pour into greased pan and bake for 55-60 minutes. 
• Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely before wrapping. 

I really enjoy this recipe because of how flexible it is. You can sub oil for applesauce for a healthier version. You can also add other veggies (shredded carrots) or take out the zucchini and add apples, bananas, blueberries, etc. If you want to make muffins instead of a bread loaf, keep an eye on the oven and cook them for about 30-40 minutes instead.