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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Zucchini Bread

    

     Everyone is making zucchini bread. Joy made zucchini bread. Kristin at the Kitchen Sink made zucchini bread. Scroll down the page on Seven Spoons and there's zucchini bread again. STOP TEMPTING ME PEOPLE! I want zucchini bread so bad so bad so bad. Furthermore, there's zucchinis in my fridge so its so close to possible.

    
     Who invented exams anyway? Why should an exam and a paper be standing in the way of my making zucchini bread? On the other hand, why can't cravings go away because I could sooo easily just make this zucchini bread after said exam and paper! But my craving just won't let me. I want this and I want this now. Isn't it so easy to crave food that way? You have cravings that just won't go away right?


     But, perseverance and a lack of time wins through in the end. I studied for my midterm and wrote my paper people, I did not make zucchini bread. BUT right after I got out of my midterm, I did. I sat there and shredded away at the zucchini with my peeler (I don't have a grater! Next kitchen implement to be acquired. Other than an immersion blender. Which by the way I actually go to use IN REAL LIFE this weekend...and it was awesome...). Anyway, in the two hours between my midterm and my next class, I shredded zucchini, mixed up a batter, and baked awesome zucchini bread AND did (most of) the dishes. Woo hoo.

    
     And then, after my class, I got to eat the zucchini bread! What could be better after a day of exams? Warm zucchini bread, because I had left it in the oven during class - actually, I left it there because it wasn't fully baked by the time I had to leave but I didn't want to leave the oven on while I was in class, so I figured if I just turned the oven off it would finish in there while the oven cooled down. Phewf long explanation. When I came back it was still a little smushy right in the middle of the loaf, I recommend using the whole baking time properly! But in the end, I got a zucchini bread all crunch and crackly at the edges, soft inside, cinnamony and spicy, with the little flecks of zucchini all throughout. Even those smushy bits were delectable, and after eating a whole end of the bread, I then toasted a slice from the middle and buttered it. Yum. It is that fall season again, and it makes me happy inside.

Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Joy the Baker

1 Large Zucchini, Shredded (should yield 2 cups Shredded Zucchini) 
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
3 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp Milk 
1 cup Vegetable Oil 
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/3 cup Granulated sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour an 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan. Also, shred your zucchini! I used a peeler and then chopped up the rather large zucchini pieces I had, a grater would probably work better.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking power, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and sugar together. Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined, fold in the shredded zucchini. Then, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them in with a spatula. Make sure to keep lifting the flour up from the bottom of the bowl so all of it gets combined. Once it is well mixed, scrape the batter into the loaf pan and put it in a center rack in the oven. Bake it for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Take it out, and allow it to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack. Cut slices and serve warm! Or wait for it to cool completely.

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