Friday, February 4, 2011

making life baking life: zucchini bread

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Zucchini bread is an old favorite. I can't even remember when I had it for the first time, but it was definitely on my oft-baked list, even when I rarely baked. I made it several times over the years--most memorably, I attempted to bake a couple of loaves for my college girlfriends one night over Trivial Pursuit and some sort of incredibly delicious blue cocktails (my friend B had just completed a bartending course and we were the lucky guinea pigs) and they were a complete flop... too moist in the middle, dry around the edges, and a funny spongey texture everywhere else. I had no idea what had gone wrong, and still to this day haven't the slightest (at the time I blamed the liquor for befuddling me). Several successful loaves and another brutally awful batch later, I decided that I was in the possession of a magical shiftwitchery recipe, which transformed miraculously in my little black book between each bake. This time, I sought out a new recipe, checked to make sure the ingredients were the same, took note that the quantities of said ingredients were remarkably dissimilar, and whipped up a couple of can't-fail loaves. Sadly, I still managed to fail--after cracking my three eggs into a bowl and whipping them into a frenzy, I discovered that I was somehow out of sugar (and had no neighbor to borrow from) and had to suit up, walk to the market, and pick up a hefty bag of Domino. I picked up a bottle of vodka while I was at it (yes, that's the way I roll).

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Ingredients:

3 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 t cinnamon
2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 c applesauce (or oil)
2 tea vanilla
2 c zucchini (grated)


Directions:

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After checking your cabinet for sugar, crack three eggs into a bowl and make them twist and shout.

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Pour sugar into egg mixture and stir.

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Add applesauce (or oil). I try to substitute whenever possible and save the calories where I can (after all, there is more than enough sugar in here...).

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Add vanilla (that sweet-smelling, foul-tasting nectar).

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Add flour slowly and stir until well mixed.

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(The batter will start to take on that dough-y texture.)

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Add your various powders and spices (baking powder/soda, salt, cinnamon) and mix, mix, mix.

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Grate (at least) 2 c zucchini and stir directly into batter until moist.

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Pour into two non-stick pans. 1 hour at 325 degrees later, your loaves will come out of the oven with a sweet, crisp crust and a moist, chewy center:

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I was so satisfied by my apricot bread breakfast last month that I wanted to make something else as a substitute for my heavy bagel-and-cream-cheese morning meal. I'll bet the bread would also be fantastic in muffin form, but unfortunately I have no muffin tins!

Happy baking! :)

3 comments:

  1. Mmmmmm...love me some zucchini bread!
    I also use applesauce as a sub for oil whenever possible.
    I find it makes baked goods much more moist, they just don't last as long. Which is a win-win for waistlines!

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  2. Wow! I've never tried zucchini bread before...this looks tempting! I've just baked some coffee and walnut cupcakes though so will have to wait until they have gone! (my parents are chinese and are therefore very resourceful, especially with food.) xx

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  3. Mmmm, I love it when you do "making life baking life." I've had issues with loaves before (mainly lemon loaf) but I do love zucchini muffins. If you do decide to get some muffin tins, I recommend the silicon ones. Really easy to get the muffins out!

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