The Spicy Zucchini Bread Saga

Have I been playing too much Candy Crush Saga that everything is a saga now?  Probably.  Is this an overstatement for the process that I went through to make a simple loaf of quick bread.  Not the quickest bread that I have ever made but hope you like the journey!

I bought some zucchini at the store and my mother brought me some and my cousin brought me some.  I made some with dinner one night and used some but not nearly enough.  I wish I took a picture of the one that my cousin brought because it was huge.  I decided to go with the great option of making bread with all my bounty!  I started by trimming the veggies and my husband nicely volunteered to grate the zucchini.

After he finished grating, I measured and saw that we had 6 cups!!  Oh my, that would mean a lot of bread because a recipe takes 2 cups and makes 2 loaves so I was going to have 6 loaves of bread.

The zucchini was really wet... there was nothing in the directions about it being too wet but I decided to dry some of it off before using it.  I think that it was a good decision because the towel was really wet!

I started by using my mom's recipe.  I am going to make a quick side note because I don't want to sound really silly.  The recipe looked a little off but I felt like I used the recipe before so it couldn't be wrong.  I made it and I got this unrisen loaf.  It actually was still tasty when it was hot and just tasted a little off.

I was headed to the store while they were home cooling and I called my mom.  I told her that I just made her bread and I thought that it was missing some baking soda or a number in front of the baking powder could be wrong.  She pulled out her cookbook and read the recipe (which of course I left at home but remembered).  Mine (that I hand copied directly from her's) was missing an important ingredient......... baking soda!!  It was nowhere on my recipe but my mom said that it was on her recipe.  I guess that I get an F in copying recipes but I did do these many years ago while I was in college so I am going to chalk it up to exhaustion and silliness!!!

When I got home, I wrote the important missing ingredient on the side of the recipe in huge letters and decided that I would try my mom's recipe and another one the next day since I had so much zucchini to spare!!  Take two!  I got everything out and started the process.

First step, mix the egg, oil and sugar in the bowl.

Then, add the dry ingredients and you get the magic batter.

Go in the other room and see how your helper is doing..totally asleep on the couch. Don't blame you because I am not sure if it is going to turn out either but my fingers are crossed.  Nap is a better option which greatly tempted me too but I fought the urge and pressed on in the baking process.

I poured it in the pans and put them in the oven.

Still thinking about that nap but continued on to make the second batch and recipe.  I realized that I was all out of loaf pans since the two bad ones were in my first two loaf pans and I used the a big and two small ones to make the first recipe.  I opted for lots of other containers and due to exhaustion, probably picked the 8 x 8 baker without thinking about how much longer it would take to cook across (not a great recommended size for this recipe).

The first batch came out and I was excited to see that they rose.  They looked a little dark and I thought that they were burnt but they really were cooked perfectly so I might have been a little heavy on the cinnamon.

The second batch was done an hour later and looked a ton lighter.  It also looked crispy around the sides so I am not sure if I used a little too much spray on the pans.

Here is the whole counter filled with my baked creations (minus the one that I removed to taste test).

I was exhausted but glad that I finally had some successful bread.  Sadly, my son woke up so no rest for the weary but lots and lots of bread!

My family loved it which was exciting because I wasn't sure they would even though they love cinnamon.  I did tell my son that it was called spicy bread... cinnamon bread already taken by the applesauce bread that I already make.  It really isn't spicy but I told him that cinnamon was a spice which is how it got its name.  My son is just like my husband and you have to call it something that they know they will like.  Although my son likes his bread with no crust and cut into fingers and my husband is fine to cut it himself.

My parents came to visit and my mom said that she liked her recipe better.  They do say to respect your elders so I held my tongue and didn't make her do a blind taste test.  I guess I shouldn't have mentioned which one was her's and which one was Amy's (my friend who sent it over to me) recipe but it might have had something to do with her biased results.  I should have had Amy over to test them both too.

Here are the two recipes so that you can make your own Spicy Zucchini Bread:

Zucchini Bread

(my mom's recipe which means that I have it scribbled on a piece of paper and don't know where it came from but if I had to guess my mom's friend, Dottie)

3 eggs
1 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c sugar
2 c grated zucchini
2 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 c raisins (optional)
1 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Beat egg lightly.  Stir in oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients to egg mixture until blended.  Stir in raisins and nuts (optional).

Pour into 2 greased (8 x 5 x 3) loaf pans.  Bake at 375 degrees F for one hour on until done.

Mom's Zucchini Bread

(not my mom's recipe but adapted from All Recipes)

 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

4-5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups white sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

Directions

1. Grease and flour (or use the flour baking spray) two 8 x 4 inch pans (or whatever you have on hand). Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Shared on Frugal by Choice Homemade Monday
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