Sometimes I get into that crafty mood but have no time to actually tackle a craft. There’s dishes, dinner, laundry and a hungry baby clinging to my leg. When I find myself in this pickle, I always revert back to my trusty oven… and bake! I don’t have many tried and true recipes under my belt, so I usually google around until I find something that has a yummy photo, good ratings and ingredients within my reach.
Tonight I scratched the itch (but I washed my hands before I started baking, heh) by whipping up two loaves of homemade zucchini bread. Both loaves came from the recipe below, but I split up the batter and mixed in tiny chocolate chips in one pan and hearty dried sweet cherries (from here, oh yeah) in the other.
It felt good to create something, and now I have a delicious snack/breakfast/side for the rest of the week. We’ll see if they last that long.
Zucchini Bread
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
- 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- Pinch salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
- 1 cup raisins, dried cherries, chocolate chips, etc. (your choice, pick something to spice it up)
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts and dried cranberries or raisins if using.
2 Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.
Makes 2 loaves.
snipscribble 