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The World's Best (for real!) Zucchini Bread
The World's Best (for real!) Zucchini Bread
If you're a "country Christian," you probably already know the running summer-time joke: Don't leave your car unlocked in the church parking lot on Sunday. Nobody'll steal anything, but you'll come back to four bags of zucchini on the back seat.
It's that time of year. Early peas and lettuce have faded in the heat. June strawberries are a pleasant memory. Tomatoes are just starting to blush. And zucchini and weeds are getting out of control.
A quick trip to my garden this morning revealed zucchini a day past ridiculous. One minute, there's not a squash in site. The next minute, they're topping 18" and coming out my ears.
If you're any kind of gardener, you're probably in the same boat. I can't help with your weeding (and I don't want to), but for all those zucchinis, I have just the ticket: the world's seriously best zucchini bread!
In a past life, this recipe was my Noni's carrot cake recipe. More than 60 years old, faded, torn, creased and stained, the original in her handwriting is still treasured in my own ancient recipe box. I've tweaked it over the years and use the base interchangeably for both carrot cake and zucchini bread (the carrot cake gets either a cream cheese or boiled buttermilk icing, but that's a story for another day).
It doesn't matter what kind of zucchini you use, but I grow Costata Romanesco. It's a medium-pale green, ribbed, heirloom Italian squash, with a nutty flavor and firm texture which is day-and-night superior to any other zucchini I've ever eaten. Seed is available from a lot of vendors, but I gravitate toward Johnny's Seeds. They aren't the cheapest but, year after year, I find they are more reliable, with better producing seed, and great customer service. I bought some Costata Romanesco from another vendor last year because Johnny's was sold out. Instead of zucchini, the seed produced some kind of weird-looking, flat, pumpkin-like blob, the color of which defies description in polite terms, and which was either the result of cross-pollination in the field or drunken pixies swapping seed packets in the back room.
But, whatever kind of zukes you prefer, up to a point, the larger ones are better for bread. Even if they've started to get a little pithy in the middle, you just scoop that out, feed it to the chickens (who will be most appreciative), and use the firm outside.
The moist, delicate crumb, crunchy exterior, and incredible flavor of this easy-to-make zucchini bread are sublime. I suggest you do not attempt to calculate the caloric intake of this zucchini bread. I've done it. You just don't want to know.
Bon Appetit!
The World's Seriously Best Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
- 1-¼ cups coconut oil*
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups self-rising flour**
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 3 cups grated zucchini
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Beat together coconut oil, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in flour, cinnamon, vanilla. Add grated zucchini and chopped nuts; stir gently by hand until well blended. Bake in a buttered & floured tube or Bundt pan*** for approximately 1 hour, until the top springs back when touched and/or a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan a few minutes before turning out on a rack to cool completely (if you can stand it that long).
Notes:
* Do NOT substitute any other kind of oil or results will not be the same. If your coconut oil is solid, soften it just a bit in the micro, until it's the consistency of soft butter, and cream it together with the sugar until smooth, before adding the eggs.
**If you don't have self-rising flour, you can substitute regular white flour or bread flour, and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 Tablespoon of baking powder.
***You can also use muffin tins or a loaf pan but will have to adjust baking time accordingly.
Please shop from your local farmer when you can, rather than WallyWorld or the superstore. You'll get better products and help sustain your local economy.
Bill Porter, Broker
(304) 612-3746207 Aurora Dr
Morgantown, WV 26508
WEST VIRGINIA LICENSES BROKER WVB240300963
AGENCY 010271-00
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