I (Anthony) yet again made the mistake of planting too many summer squash plants. I tell myself annually that I am only going to plant one. Then I reconsider and put in one each of crookneck and zucchini. Of course, I end up with a few extra plants, so I decide to just stick those into a few bare spots I have in the garden. All the while I’m telling myself someone will take them. Yet every year, we transition from the initial anticipation of the first squash to rejoicing at its arrival to figuring out new uses for them.
One natural for the surplus is zucchini bread. I’ve never been a huge fan because it typically has the texture of a damp sponge and makes you feel like grabbing a toothbrush soon after consumption because of the cloyingly sweet taste. But rummaging through
recipes on the ‘Net led me to Paula Deen’s zucchini bread. I’ve seen her show perhaps once (we don’t own a TV, so I’m not certain the context for watching), but I walked away from the viewing experience pretty well convinced that she is a heavy user of butter and sugar. The recipe I found was indeed sugar-laden. But the recipe did provide the promise of a zucchini bread with a crusty exterior and non-sodden interior. A perusal of the comment section for her recipe revealed that most thought the bread too sweet and recommended cutting the sugar in half, along with subbing in whole wheat flour. I followed the recipe with those modifications and now have a recipe that family and friends devour and compliment.
So if you’re feeling at a loss for what to do with all those squash and seeking a moist but not drowning bread, give this one a shot. And the cool thing is that this makes two loaves, so you can eat one now and freeze the other for later.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 cups grated zucchini or other summer squash, such as crookneck
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.
5. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.
