We recently moved to a more nature surrounded neighborhood and inherited a large garden with so many tasty fruits and vegetables, and I'm learning how to keep up with the amazing harvest, one of them being zucchini! I never in my life saw bigger zucchini, and the first one I harvest, I used only a quarter of it in a meal that had leftovers after! I'm telling you, these zucchinis were almost 2 ft long, and I'm not exaggerating, so I needed to pull some zucchini recipes out, and I decided to make some zucchini bread, and it turned out incredible! With fall being nearly here, zucchini bread will be my new go-to for the perfect fall treat with its cinnamon and nutmeg spice. Zucchini is typically referred to as a summer squash so its prime season is from May through September, but can be found year round at the farmers market or grocery store. You can store zucchini for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or you can even chop it up and freeze it for long term storing as well.
This amazing and easy recipe is from the website, Butter with a Side of Bread, and though it's not gluten free, you can easily use alternatives like Almond flour instead of all-purpose flour. The original recipe calls for white and brown sugar, but I used maple syrup as a natural alternative. You can typically use 3/4 cup of maple syrup for every 1 cup of sugar. This recipe is moist, rich, flavorful, and can either be enjoyed with a spread of butter with breakfast, or can be followed up with as a dessert. You can also make a loaf of it, or make little muffins like I did, and both turned out great! Plus, it made my whole house smell like a fall-scented candle! Some of zucchini's health properties contain being high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamin K and magnesium, strengthening your bones, eyes, supporting a healthy heart, good cholestorol, and also contain anticancer effects. Why not throw some zucchini in your baked goods? This healthy sweet treat may be just the thing you need this fall! We hope you enjoy :)
Ingredients
3/4 cup organic maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup olive oil (or you can substitute applesauce for 1/2 the oil)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp nutmeg
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups grated zucchini (I used the tiny grated side)
1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
Grease two 8 x 4 inch pans or 6 mini loaf plans. Preheat oven to 325°F.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Next, in a separate small bowl, beat the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and sugars together.
Then, add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined.
After that, grate the zucchini using a box grater. Add to the bread batter, along with the nuts, until well combined. Let batter sit 5-10 minutes.
Proceed to pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Place bread into the oven and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. My mini-loaf pans take about 35-40 minutes. Large sized loaves take about 55 minutes. (See below for my method on making sure loaves are completely cooked!)
When done cooking, cool in the pan on rack a for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. Slice, serve and enjoy!