lemon-Zucchini Loaf

I found the recipe for Lemon-Zucchini Loaf with this pin.

Lately I've had a hug craving for lemon. Maybe not lately, but for at least the last couple of years. When I saw the Lemon Zucchini Loaf I knew it was one I would want to make.

I pulled out my hand dandy lemon zester for this. I love my Williams-Sonoma Microplane Ultimate Citrus Tool. It's not the first tool I've had for zesting lemons. Some just didn't work well. Some fell apart. When I saw this one I thought it was spendy, but just might work so I got it. And it does!

Then I thought I had run into a problem. No buttermilk! Normally I would use a little vinegar and regular milk to make a buttermilk substitution, but I was really trying to stick to the recipe. Then I remembered I had buttermilk powder, similar to powdered milk. So I used that. Just for your info - you can also freeze small amounts of buttermilk if you find you can never use all of it at once.

The first loaf was pretty brown at 40 minutes and the center was no where close to done. I covered the top with tin goil and cooked some more. And some more.  I ended up cooking it for about an hour and 5 minutes

The second loaf I turned down the heat to 325 degrees and things worked much better. This time the top browned when it should. Strangely it took the same amount of time to cook. You can blame that on user error I'm sure.

Then came the glaze. I was a little concerned with it. It just seemed to have too little liquid. Nope. It was just right to make a glaze. After the first loaf though I wanted more glaze so with the second loaf I made 1 1/2 recipes of glaze. That was too much. Next time I'll do 1 1/4.

Rex and I both liked it. The kids were ho hum about it. Citrus really isn't a kid's favorite though.

Verdict: Would make this again, but make sure the heat is down and add a little more glaze

Verdict on my own variation: The original recipe was better. Using the applesauce made this a little cloying so I wouldn't use that. I would use the whole wheat - but then I like a heavier bread.

Zucchini

Last year we planted zucchini. I'd always hear about how you only plant one because you will get tons. And we got...none. So this year we planted more plants and the plants are producing! I love it! Rex brings a few zucchini in and I either slice them or grate them and then freeze them, but not before making something fresh with some of it! I've found an awesome recipe for zucchini and I agree that this is the BEST zucchini bread.

BEST ZUCCHINI BREAD

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/4 c. all-purpose (white) flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. clove

2 1/2 c. zucchini, shredded (about 3 medium zucchini)

1 c. pecans, chopped

4 eggs (or 1/4 c. powdered eggs + 1/2 c. water)

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. oil

1 tsp. lemon zest

Measure and sift together the first eight dry ingredients and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, sugars and oil. Blend thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture while stirring. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in zucchini, pecans and lemon zest. Pour batter into two greased 8 or 9 inch loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

with her own NOTES: To make this recipe healthier (but just as tasty!), I cut the oil measurement in half with applesauce (1/2 c. oil + 1/2 c. applesauce), leave out 1/2 cup of the white sugar, and use 1 cup liquid eggs (like Eggbeaters). To save time, sometimes I substitute 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice in place of the ginger, allspice and clove. If your garden produced more yellow squash than zucchini, you can substitute part or all of the zucchini with shredded yellow squash (I cut the squash in fourths, length-wise, and remove the seeds before shredding.) with virtually no difference in taste. I like to use my food processor to shred the zucchini because it keeps the zucchini from getting soggy the way it does when grated by hand.

You can find it http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/2009/07/the-best-zucchini-bread/.

This morning I am trying it with 3/4 c pumpkin and 1/4 oil instead of the straight oil. I'll let you know how it works. I have also been using only whole wheat flour (no white) and love it!