Zucchini Week: Grandma's Zucchini Bread

Would you believe me if I told you I’d never made zucchini bread before? For the longest time, my grandma and Joe’s grandma kept us supplied in homemade zucchini bread all summer long. But then my grandma moved to an assisted living community, and Joe’s stopped making it on such a regular basis, and fast-forward to this summer when I realized I hadn’t had homemade zucchini bread for at least three years. The only solution was to make my own, and I certainly had enough zucchini on hand to do just that.

The only problem was deciding on a recipe. There’s no shortage of zucchini bread recipes out there, and I had no idea where to start. But then, on the bottom shelf of my kitchen bookcase, I spied an old, pea-green Betty Crocker recipe box. It belonged to my grandma, and she passed it on to my mom when she moved, and I inherited it when my mom passed away. I hadn’t looked through it for a while, but I thought I remembered seeing Grandma’s zucchini bread recipe in there, so I immediately started pawing through the old, stained recipe cards covered with my grandma’s spider scrawl. I ended up finding not just one zucchini bread recipe, but two.

The two recipes seemed to be variations on the same, with just a few changes here and there, and they didn’t include baking temperatures or times. So I had to do a little bit of guessing. I also changed up Grandma’s recipe just slightly, by substituting applesauce for half of the “salad oil” (which is really just vegetable oil, but that’s what she always called it).

When I smelled the loaves baking, I was immediately transported back in time. I love it when foods are attached to long-forgotten memories. This bread tasted exactly like I remembered Grandma’s tasting: rich and spicy and moist and absolutely perfect. I’m so glad I have Grandma’s recipe, and next time I make it I’m going to take her a loaf. I think she’ll get a real kick out of that!

Do you think I sliced myself a thick enough piece? ;)

Grandma’s Zucchini Bread

2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat on medium heat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to egg mixture and mix just until moistened. Stir in zucchini and walnuts.

4. Divide batter evenly between 2 greased 8 x 4-inch loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (mine took the full 65 minutes). Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans.

:::

As if I haven’t shared enough zucchini recipes with you this week, here are some more of my favorites:

Zucchini casserole
Worcestershire-glazed vegetables
Zucchini alfredo
Zucchini-wrapped pork chops with pesto, tomato, and mozzarella cheese
Vegetable-stuffed zucchini
Summer vegetable and pesto tart

Zucchini Week: Spicy Turkey, Corn and Zucchini Skillet

I’ve been getting recipes e-mailed to me from Campbell’s Kitchen for a few years now, and I think this skillet dinner is the first recipe from their site that I’ve actually made. I was intrigued by the simplicity (a factor which is quickly becoming one of my more common requirements when making my meal plan), and I thought it sounded like a great combination of flavors.

It was delicious.

The use of the boxed soup made this come together quickly and easily, and it added a ton of flavor without a lot of work. I added some additional seasonings to give this even more flavor, and we topped our individual servings with sour cream. This is definitely a meal I’ll make again.

Come back tomorrow, when I’ll be concluding Zucchini Week with a classic: my grandma’s zucchini bread.

Spicy Turkey, Corn and Zucchini Skillet
source: adapted from Campbell’s Kitchen

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 medium zucchini, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground turkey
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 carton (18.3 ounces) Campbell's V8 Southwest Corn Soup
2 cups tortilla chips
2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes. Add the turkey and cook until it's well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Season with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Stir in the soup and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the turkey mixture is hot and bubbling. Top with the tortilla chips and cheese.

Zucchini Week: Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I’ve had these cupcakes on my list of things to try since last summer, so when I found myself with all that zucchini that needed to be used up, they were the first thing I thought of. And man, am I ever glad I finally got around to making these!

These cupcakes are so incredibly good -- rich and chocolaty, with cinnamon and brown sugar for warmth and walnuts for crunch and chocolate chips to provide those little pockets of gooey deliciousness throughout the entire cupcake. And the frosting is to-die-for delicious: thick, creamy, rich and sweet. I definitely had some intense love for these cupcakes, and my whole family really loved them too. They’ll be a summer baking staple for us from now on.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
source: adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

For the cupcakes:

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

For the frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar for about 10 minutes or until thickened and pale. Blend oil, vanilla and cooled chocolate into the beaten egg mixture.

3. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir flour mixture into egg mixture until just blended. Stir in zucchini, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

4. Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined or greased muffin cups, filling the cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until fork or toothpick inserted in a cupcake’s center comes out clean. Let cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; let cool completely.

5. To make frosting, mix cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix in cocoa powder. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.

Zucchini Week: Baked Zucchini Macaroni and Cheese

I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with macaroni and cheese lately. Like most kids, Andrew loves the stuff, and while he would probably be perfectly content with the blue box, I’ve been trying lots of new version that incorporate more vegetables. If he’s going to eat mac and cheese, at least I can make it somewhat healthy for him by sneaking in some cauliflower, spinach and artichokes, tomatoes (that recipe coming soon!), or pureed butternut squash or carrots (which I’m definitely going to try this fall). Every version I’ve made so far has been met with some level of success, and this version featuring shredded zucchini was no different.

We all liked this macaroni and cheese, actually. The idea came from Joanne at Eats Well With Others, but in the end I just used my normal macaroni and cheese method and kicked it up a bit. This hearty and delicious dinner is a great way to use up some of your zucchini bounty, and to sneak some green vegetables into your kiddos too.

Coming up tomorrow: chocolate zucchini cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. That’s right.

Baked Zucchini Macaroni and Cheese
source: adapted from Eats Well with Others

1 pound macaroni or other short pasta
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
2 cups zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a kitchen towel, squeeze the zucchini to remove as much moisture from it as possible.

2. Cook pasta in salted water to al dente according to directions on box. Drain.

3. Meanwhile, melt butter and hot sauce over medium heat in a sauce pan. Whisk in flour; cook and stir until thickened, about 30 seconds. Whisk in milk and stir until mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Stir in zucchini and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour cheese and zucchini sauce over pasta and mix well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

5. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle mixture evenly over pasta.

6. Bake until the top is bubbling and slightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Zucchini Week: Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Since it’s the last full week of August, and the temperatures are finally becoming much more bearable (thank goodness!), I thought I’d do some summer blog-cleaning and share a week of zucchini recipes to help you use up the last of your crop.

I mentioned before that I was blessed (cursed?) with four monstrous zucchini earlier this summer, so needless to say, I’ve been cooking with it a lot. Thankfully, zucchini freezes really well, so I still have two freezer bags full of the shredded stuff to get me through the winter whenever I need a fix.

I can definitely see myself pining for these muffins this winter. They are super delicious. I used my favorite banana muffin as the base for the recipe, and tweaked it from there to factor in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Andrew took these to daycare on his snack day, and from what I hear they were a huge hit with the kids. I’ll take any opportunity I can to sneak green veggies into the little ones!

Along that vein, come back tomorrow for day two of Zucchini Week, when I’ll be sharing the recipe for baked zucchini macaroni and cheese. The kids will never know it’s in there. I’m such a sneak.

Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 overripe bananas

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

3. Cream butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs.

4. Puree bananas, sour cream and vanilla.

5. Alternately add dry ingredients in 3 additions and banana mixture in 2 additions to the egg mixture. Beat enough to incorporate. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.

6. Spoon into greased or lined muffin tins and bake for about 25 minutes, or until puffed, browned and springy. Makes about 15 muffins.