homemade zucchini bread

A couple of months ago I went to Whole Foods in search of a little taste of home – there are some things I just downright miss about Texas. When I found out there was a Whole Foods nearby, I could almost smell the cowboy boots and dead grassy hills of Texas – I was excited to check it out!
While perusing the bakery section (because if you know anything about me it’s that I practically live off of bread) I picked up a loaf of zucchini bread to bring home. It had been a while since I had zucchini bread… I had forgotten how similar it tastes to carrot cake (except without the icing). A few bites into my second piece, I started thinking I’d like to try to make some of my own zucchini bread!

Special Instructions: Time required: 1 hour + prep time

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grate 2 cups of zucchini into a bowl (approx 2 large zucchini’s) and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Bake mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes, then test. If you still have leftover batter after you’ve poured the two loaf pans, then I’d suggest you do like I did and make a batch of mini-muffins!
Once the bread has cooked and is done, let cool for 15 minutes. Then slice, if applicable, and serve.

About Me: I’m a newly wed and a new transplant to the Sunshine State of Florida. Since moving here from Texas, I’ve rekindled my passion for cooking, lucky for my hubs, and I also enjoy daydreaming about the next vacation my husband & I will be able to take. I’ve also used some newfound free time to get back into reading which has, coincidentally, has also helped me dive back into blogging on Becoming Bianca. A few other things about me: I enjoy volunteering and serving others, riding my bike around the lake across the street, and sharing the gospel with my words and actions.

sliced-zucchini-bread.jpg (73 KB)