Versatile Zucchini Bread

My youngest son asked, "Mom, why don't you share recipes on your blog? You bake every week..." So this post is dedicated to him. In our household, we love zucchini, or courgettes as the British say. They're the top overproducers in summer gardens, and we welcome them! We sauté zucchini with butter, garlic, onion, and peppers, stuff them with cheese, dip them in batter and deep fry them, chop them for soups, but my favorite way to enjoy zucchini is in a sweet bread!

Nearly every week, I bake for my colleagues at work, and toward the end of summer, I make several varieties of zucchini bread!

From left to right, chocolate zucchini bread, cinnamon chocolate chip zucchini bread and chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread.

Growing up, we had a neighbor next door, Marie, and she grew a huge variety of vegetables, and as a young kid, I would visit her to assist. She shared with me her gardening tips and tricks, as well as how to freeze vegetables and bake.

I've saved this recipe, in my 6th grade hand writing and use it all the time! To save you the trouble from deciphering it:

Zucchini Bread from Marie

3 eggs

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1 c. sugar

2/3 c. brown sugar

2 c. zucchini (wrung out)

2 t. vanilla

3 c. flour

2 t. cinnamon

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

Beat eggs, add oil and mix; add all remaining ingredients. Grease two loaf pans with butter, then sugar (makes an amazing crust on bread!)

Bake 60 - 65 minutes at 325°; let cool 20 minutes, remove from pan.

Like any old fashioned recipe, this one can be modified. Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa for chocolate bread, or 2 tablespoons of cinnamon just for fun. You can also include chocolate chips either in combination or on their own. Delicious. But don't stop there!

Before I moved to California, I didn't know what a persimmon was or how to eat them. There are two types of persimmon: Fuyu, which is firm with an apple-like texture, and Hachiya, which is bitter and astringent unless it's so ripe it's almost jelly-like. I enjoy both, but I particularly love baking persimmon bread with the Fuyu variety by grating them, much like zucchini! If I don't have enough persimmons, I grate apples and use those as a substitute in the recipe. For persimmon bread, I love adding Penzey's Cake Spice (https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/cake-spice/c-24/p-37/pd-s)—it's one of my favorite baking spices! Cake spice contains China cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves; it's warm, sweet, and fragrant, making it perfect for fall baking. (I’m not affiliated with Penzey's, I just adore their spices!) You can simply grate apples and make apple bread; it's delicious!

On the left, you'll find persimmon bread made with Fuyu persimmons, including the skins, resulting in a beautiful persimmon orange color. On the right is a savory zucchini bread featuring chives and cheese. Pinterest is a great resource for discovering recipes that suit your taste. I'm still experimenting; this version was a bit stodgy.

Finally, perhaps our favorite zucchini dish is fried zucchini blossoms, which isn't related to zucchini bread but is incredibly delicious!

Our farmer's market sells bags of zucchini blossoms, or you can pick them off any of your squash plants! Pull out the stamen inside, put a chunk of string cheese inside, dip in a beer batter, and fry... salt as soon as they come out of the oil! You can serve them with marinara or on their own. We've also used them as the top layer in a frittata; they make it beautiful and tasty! If you have not had them, try them; I promise you will love them!