Everything but the kitchen sink Zucchini bread

So there are several things going on in my life right now that lead me to make this weeks project: Zucchini bread.

First of all, I have a garden. Even though I live in the big city of Boston where yards are few and far between, I have the next best thing: a community garden. My roommate and I have an 8x10 (approximately) little chunk of outdoor heaven that is all our own, and as it turns out, we have green thumbs! Zucchini has definitely been the word of the week around our house because we keep getting monster-sized zucchini from the garden and are growing them faster than we can eat them.

Second of all, I'm moving. Ive lived in my apartment for just over three years now (holy crap, have I really lived in Boston for 3 years??), and next week, I will be saying my farewells to the apartment that Ive called home for a while. I'm certainly moving on to a great spot with some great roomies and its just down the street from where I live now, but as everyone who has ever moved knows, you collect alot of crap when you've lived somewhere for a long period of time. This includes food and all cooking/baking supplies.

Together, these two factors inspired me to make this "everything but the kitchen sink zucchini bread!!" The recipe gave me alot of leeway in the things I could add....pecans left over from last week's wedding cookies: add 'em. Walnuts remaining from some random project in the past: throw 'em in. Chocolate chips from cookies past: as if I needed a reason to add chocolate. Even though this "bread" has a solid amount of veggies and good fats (from the nuts), it aint good for you. The recipe said one cup of vegetable oil or olive oil....so I added some of both. I had about 3/4 of a cup of veggie oil left and since I'm trying to use up everything in the kitchen, I started with that and topped it off to 1 cup with olive oil. Just like carrot cake, you cant even taste the zucchini in this....which is good. The bread alone isn't super sweet, so if you were to want something a little more savory, don't add the chocolate and you'll be all set. I, of course, like all things sweet, so the addition of chocolate was a good choice for me. You could certainly throw in some dried berries or maybe some banana chunks if you want to go the healthier route. The bread itself is super moist and dense so it certainly is filling and delicious. All in all, a good recipe and a good outlet to clear out the cabinets plus it makes 2 loafs so its easy to keep some for yourself and still have some leftover to share!! Enjoy!!


PS- For those of you who care, I only have 2 loaf pans: one silicone and one glass. I was a little worried that one pan would cook faster than the other or one would burn on the edges before it was done in the middle, but to my surprise, the two pans cooked equally well, leaving me with two perfect loafs!

Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen blog
Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

Ingredients

3 eggs1 cup olive or vegetable oil1
3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally. (See those pictures of the cakes inside their non-stick pans? Yup, they’re pretty much hanging out in there for the time being.) Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.
Stir this into the egg mixture.

Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.