Zucchini Bread

I'm getting better at this, taking pictures and baking that is. Fred revels in the fact that he's a better baker than I am. My competitive nature just will not allow this and practice makes perfect, so I've stocked up on sugar and flour. I'm even planning to bake a cake for Casey's birthday cookout next week, which I'm super excited about! Recipe and photos to come!

I've never made zucchini bread before, surprise, but my mom gave me some fresh zucchini from her garden this weekend while I was home. I stole the recipe from Paula Deen, who I heart. Changes - no nuts and baking powder instead of baking soda and salt. The conversion is 2:1 powder to soda and skip the salt. Pretty easy though, here it goes:

3 1/4 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegi. oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups sliced zucchini

1 tsp. lemon juice

Just a note on the zucchini, it was recommended that the vegetable be shredded, but I wanted to (thinly) slice mine so that you could actually see the zucchini in the bread.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare ingredients and two large bowls, one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients. Once both bowls have been mixed, form a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the center of the well. Fold all ingredients together.

This recipe is somewhat large and yields several different portion sizes: 2 standard loaf pans, 5 mini loaf pans, or any large rectangular dish (I used my lasagna dish). Place in preheated oven and bake for an hour. If using mini loaf pans check after 40 minutes, but not before 30. When baking, always wait at least 30 minutes before opening the oven door. This can cause the cake or bread to fall. To check readiness, insert a toothpick into the center of the dish and remove. If it pulls clean the baking is complete!

I shared this with the guys at work and they all really liked it! My skills are improving ;) On another note, I had thoughts about making this into a savory bread, so did some research on it. To alter the recipe, next time I'll skip the cinnamon and nutmeg and replace it with chopped onions and feta cheese. Also, cut the sugar to 1 cup honey. Gonna give it a try and see how it turns out. If you beat me to it, let me know how it goes!