100 Days of Pinterest: Lemon Zucchini Bread

Well, the day has come. I have reached 100 Days of Pinterest! It's been a long, inspiring journey. I went from dwelling on how unlucky I was, to marveling at how talented I am. I think anyone who has been handed a diagnosis such as multiple sclerosis can relate to those feelings of pity, anger, and depression. I needed an escape from those emotions and this 100 Days of Pinterest challenge helped me to get away from those feelings. Of course, I still have my days when I feel like total hell. That's to be expected. However, I have stopped obsessing over a disease that I can't fix. I have redirected my energy to a better place, and that has been such an amazing result.

When I created this challenge I had no idea that I was a foodie or even had the ability to do half of the projects I attempted. Yes, I failed at making caramels the first two times. However, I didn't give up and I was successful the third time around. I discovered my passion for creating things that were better for my family than the processed foods that are so convenient. I have also met some really great people in the blogging community along the way. It's been a process that has benefited my overall well-being and I am thankful that I took the challenge on. I was hesitant at first, but once I got going I couldn't stop being inspired.

That being said, let's get on to the recipe that was my favorite from the past week. Since it's garden harvest time, I stuck with something that can be made with those zucchinis that are ready to be picked or found at your local farmer's market. This Lemon Zucchini Bread is amazing. It's also a healthy alternative to last week's Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread (<----SO GOOD! Click there, you know you want the recipe).  It has fresh lemon and lemon zest inside that make it a perfect summer treat. I made a loaf for a family get-together and it didn't last long.

Here's the recipe.

Lemon Zucchini Bread With Lemon Glaze
Originally posted on NancyCreative.com

Makes one 9×5″ loaf

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.
In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture.
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t overmix.
Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes; also, if you make this in an 8×4″ loaf pan, your baking time may be a little longer…about 5 to 10 minutes more). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, you can make the glaze…
LEMON GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.
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That's it. Since I took this to a family get together and didn't feel like making two loaves, I sliced the bread as normal and then halved each piece and put them on a serving platter. That way, instead of eight slices of bread, I had sixteen half slices. Worked perfectly. There is an excessive amount of lemon glaze, so put as much glaze as you want on the loaf. You may have some left over, or you may go glaze crazy and pour the whole amount on the loaf. It's all you, do your glaze thing!

I've now made a Double Chocolate and a Lemon Zucchini bread. I wonder what other flavors of zucchini bread I can find? Do you have any ideas? I would love to hear them. You can send me an email with your recipe to: womaninthemancave@yahoo.com or you can post them here. Either way, I'd love to give them a try. I'm on the lookout for a great regular zucchini bread recipe and I hope you can help me out!

As always . . .

take care!
NB

100 Days of Pinterest: Day 90 - Chocolate Zucchini Bread

 

One of my favorite summer activities is gardening. I absolutely love it. I've been a gardener since I was a little kid. I used to help my grandma and grandpa take care of theirs each summer and I remember watching my grandma make meals with veggies from things she harvested from her backyard. When I was in the fifth grade my mom began a garden. She pulled my younger brother and I out of school two days each spring to get the garden ready. I have also always had a flower garden of my own as well. I think I was born with a green thumb. It's in my blood.

This summer my best friend, Bethany, and I started an organic garden together. I live in town and do not have a large yard by any means. Definitely not large enough for the stuff I wanted to plant. I do have tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli planted in containers, but that's all I could make room for. Bethany's brother lives on a farm and agreed to let us use some of his land for our garden. It's been no small task, but it has also been fun spending even more time with Bethany.

We have already began harvesting veggies from the garden. Bethany went out this past weekend and picked some zucchini that were ready.  They were perfect! Since I have never made zucchini bread (Bethany makes some good zucchini bread), I decided to search Pinterest for a recipe that sounded good. That's where I came across one for Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread pinned from Life Could Be a Dream blog. They had me at double chocolate! When I told my husband I was making some zucchini bread I could see he wasn't excited at all. He doesn't really care for it. I love it and so do our boys . . . we win. I made it anyways.

I started off by grating the zucchini with my handy dandy cheese grater (yeah, my kids used to watch Blue's Clues). This was a messy task, but it went quickly. It only took about five minutes. Then I placed the grated zucchini onto several layered paper towels for about twenty minutes to allow for the moisture to be released.

Once finished with this step, it was on to the batter. As you'll see in the recipe below there are quite a few ingredients. So, get everything out beforehand and don't do like I did and assume you have it all available. I thought I had enough sour cream and I didn't. My husband was in the middle of building some shelves when I asked him to make a trip to the store for me. I had hurt my back a few days earlier and didn't feel like hobbling around a store for sixteen ounces of sour cream. He went and got the sour cream, but of course he had to remind me that I was an old lady with my back issues. After fifteen years together, we're both old in our own ways. He's so awesome for an old man though (back at ya, old fart).

Since I am in love with my little red Corvette, I thought I'd include a picture of her here. Yes, I'm talking about my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. She's pretty, but incredibly useful. If you don't have one, you simply must get one for your kitchen. You can find them on Craigslist, Ebay, and even Amazon. Mine is an Artisan Series in Gloss Cinnamon.

Anywho, back to the zucchini bread. Once you get the batter finished you simply add the shredded zucchini, mix it, add the chocolate chips and you're ready to bake it. This makes two loaves or you can make muffins if you prefer. If you want just one loaf, this is an easy recipe to cut in half.

This is a super simple bread and it's worth the minimal effort to make. Once the bread was finished I couldn't keep my guys away. My oldest smelled it cooling and came in begging for a piece. Half a loaf was gone before the bread even cooled. That's when you know it's good.

My husband, the "I don't like zucchini bread" guy, has now changed his outlook. Today, he took three slices to work with him so that his work friends could try it. Looks like a win for me. Nobody in the man cave can deny chocolatey bread!

Enough small talk. Here's the recipe:

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread  

(originally posted on lifecouldbeadreamblog.com)
 

makes 2 loaves

4 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3 1/3 cups all purpose flour

4 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini (gently press the juice out)

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (save 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top of batter)

Preheat the oven to 350*. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.

Beat the eggs, sugars, sour cream, and vanilla until very smooth. Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour, mixing until well combined. Stir in zucchini and 2 cups of the chocolate chips. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips onto the batter.

Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove bread from oven and cool for 10-15 minutes before releasing from the pan. Cool completely before slicing.

I'd love to hear if you have any other zucchini bread recipes to try. I saw one for lemon that I think I'll be working on next. I'm sure it won't compare to this Double Chocolate Zucchini bread though!!

Thanks for reading!

Take care,
NB