Really Good Zucchini Bread

When I was a kid in the 1970s, zucchini bread was all the rage.  I can remember grating tons of the garden's haul and freezing it so we could make it year round, but over the years, zucchini bread fell out of fashion.   I think we all were duped into thinking it was healthy because it had a vegetable in it., but the fact is, it didn't really have a lot in it, and it was coupled with a hefty dose of vegetable oil.   It should have really been called "cake".   When I was watching America's Test Kitchen the other day, they optimized the recipe to pack it full of zucchini as well as lower the vegetable oil.  I tried the recipe out the other day, and it was a winner.    Here's how I made it....

kinda looks like meatloaf but it's zucchini bread!

Zucchini Bread  

1 1/2 pounds zucchini
8 3/4 ounces brown sugar  (about 1 1/2 c. packed)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2  eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.  Shred squash using a box grater, or even quicker, a food processor.  Place zucchini in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, discarding liquid.Whisk brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl. Fold in zucchini. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in large bowl. Fold in zucchini mixture until just incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake until top bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 65 to 75 minutes. Let bread cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

This recipe is spiced with warm spices, but if you are not in the mood for those fall flavors, try this other summery zucchini bread recipe I made last year...raspberry zucchini bread.   Looking back on this recipe from last summer, it feels really odd that my high school parenting days will be over.  Right now, we'd be in the thick of marching band camp and then football two-a-days.   This summer is different, my eldest decided to stay at school this summer for work, and my youngest will be taking off for college in a few short weeks.  There's a corner in the spare room devoted to dorm room stuff already.  Pretty soon, the nest will be officially empty!