Homemade Zucchini Bread — Back to Burgundie

My love for this bread kind of snuck up on me. I was with a friend at the farmers market maybe three, almost four summers ago when we both picked up zucchini. It was so cheap and they were huge! No joke. I bought them in hopes I would figure out how to use it all. I decided on zucchini bread (which was my first time ever making this bread) but I couldn't make loaf after loaf to use all the zucchini. My friend told me to freeze the zucchini, but grate it first. Genius.

Now when I pick it up from the farmers market, that's what I do. I grate it and freeze it in 1 cup servings (technically I use this amazing grater/zester from Crate & Barrel which I actually really like because it doesn't leave any lumps). I can make Zucchini Bread in the debt of winter, when it's below freezing temps in Michigan. And I just love this recipe.

Hint: I'm going to post a recipe/instructions for something else that I use in the bread (see photo below). One thing I do when I pull this from the freezer, after it thaws, I drain the excess water. It separates from the zucchini after being frozen and thawed. You could probably incorporate some of that liquid back into the bread. Maybe I'll try that for next time...

Homemade Zucchini Bread

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs

1 T. vanilla extract

1/2 c. canola oil

2/3 c. granulated sugar

1 c. grated zucchini

1/2 c. buttermilk (or regular milk, see below)

If you need to grate zucchini for this recipe, do that now. No need to peel first either.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, first add eggs and beat. Add to the eggs the vanilla extract, oil, sugar, grated zucchini and buttermilk.

If you don't have buttermilk, which I never seem to, take roughly a 1/2 c. milk and add about 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar to it. Let this sit for a few minutes before adding to wet mixture. This step turns the regular milk into buttermilk. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until blended, but do not over mix.

Pour into loaf pan and bake 45 minutes or until top is browned. Cool and remove from pan.