Extra-Special Zucchini Bread

Like most people who like to bake and/or cook, we tend to collect recipes. I’m not a novice when it comes to same. Recently, I went through my stash to weed out recipes I’d never make other than in my imagination. Along the way, I came across the following recipe for “Extra-Special Zucchini Bread” clipped from Family Circle Magazine in their “Readers’ Favorite Recipes" section. (This recipe came from Barbara Grady, in Woodland, California who said, “I like to make this recipe in miniature loaves for bake sales we have at the hospital where I volunteer.”)

For years I’ve been baking zucchini bread using a recipe my Mom used for as long as I can remember. But this recipe had an ingredient that immediately caught my eye: cream cheese. It pretty much had the same ingredients as the recipe I had been using but with the addition of cream cheese. It intrigued me; never heard of cream cheese in zucchini bread.

   

Extra-Special Zucchini Bread

Makes: 2 large loaves or 7 small loaves

Prep: 20 minutes

Bake: at 350° degrees for 60 minutes for large loaves, 35 minutes for small loaves.

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

1 t. vanilla extract

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. salt

½ t. ground nutmeg

2 c. chopped walnuts

2 c. shredded zucchini

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flower two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans or seven 5 3/4 x 3 x 2-inch foil loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, beats eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese.

3. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. On low speed, gradually beat into the egg mixture.

4. Fold in walnuts and zucchini. Evenly divide batter between the two prepared pans or the seven smaller pans. Bake at 350° for 60 minutes (for the large size) or 35 minutes (for the small loaves) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Turn out of pans and allow to cool completely.

This will be my go-to recipe for Zucchini Bread from now on. It's delicious, moist and has a great texture. Using the seven loaf pans gave me the opportunity to share this delicious bread with family and friends. It also freezes very well with no change in taste or texture.

As Julia Child used to say, Bon Appétit!!!

Namaste,
Chris