• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F.

Combine the first 5 ingredients (wet) in a mixing bowl.  Sift together the next 5 (dry) into another bowl, and combine being sure to mix well.

If you are adding nuts, fold them in at this time.

Pour the batter into three greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour.

**Substitutions**
I don’t use vegetable oil for anything.  I substituted applesauce for the oil and they taste great.

I also used a bit of sucanat in place of some of the sugar – it gives it a richer, more molasses-y taste.  It’s like brown sugar, but a little stronger.  It’s made in a different way.

One other thing – I don’t recommend using paper cups if you choose to make muffins.  These are pretty sticky and it’s hard to peel the paper off.  I did this time since I knew I had more than one batch of muffins to make and needed the pan again soon.

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I’m not sure where we got this recipe, but it’s been travelling around with us for a few years and the whole family loves it!  Fortunately it makes more than one loaf, since the first loaf is usuallt gone within the first 2 hours or so of being baked.  It also makes great muffins to toss into a lunch box.

The end of Summer is here, and if you planted it in your garden – and the slugs didn’t eat it all – you may just have a plethora of zucchini lying around waiting to go bad.  What to do?

Make muffins.

Well, you can make bread if you want to, but the muffins seem to last longer around here… something about counting just how many you have eaten already causes us to show some restraint!

These are *healthy* to some extent, but they don’t taste it!  Don’t tell your kids – or hubby – how good they are for you, just how good they are!  The sugary crust that forms towards the top will make sure that they don’t believe they are healthy anyway.

I have no idea where the original recipe came from, but I have tweaked it – as usual – to suit my tastes.  The girls like it this way better too – double bonus!

And did I mention that these make a tasty breakfast?  Yum…

Down to business…

Ingredients:
wet

• 2 cups evaporated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup turbinato sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 3 eggs (or egg replacer*)
• 2-1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract

dry

• 2 cups unbleached white flour**
• 2 cup whole wheat pastry flour**
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

• 1 cup chopped nuts, dried fruit, etc – optional

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a large mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients, making sure to mix the eggs thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  This will be a wet dough.

If you are adding nuts or dried fruit, gently fold them in now.

Lightly grease your muffin tins, or use paper.  Fill each muffin cup just over 1/2 full.  We use a regular sized pan, and a mini muffin pan – the perfect size for the girls to take to school.  Either way, you should get at least 2 pans worth of muffins.  I usually get 15 regular muffins, and 24 mini muffins.

Bake at 325F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a middle muffin comes out clean.

If you are using a loaf pan, bake for 1 hour, or until the toothpick is clean.  It should fill 3 greased loaf pans.

Enjoy!

*if you use egg replacer to make these vegan, add it with the dry ingredients.  Add the water or apple juice with the wet though.

**you can use 3-1/2 cups white flour instead if you would rather, but the whole wheat adds a delicious flavor!  And helps them be just a tad more healthy.

This is a delicious quick bread/cake that is totally toast-able, and absolutely delicious!

5 Tbsp. salted butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup plain vanilla

3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour an 8-cup loaf pan.

Melt the butter andpour into a large bowl, let cool.

Add sugar, egg, vanilla, sour cream and yogurt and stir together until smooth.

In a mesh strainer or flour duster combine baking soda, baking powder and flour. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fold in berries, and pour into your loaf pan, being sure to pull more of the batter to the corners than the middle.

Bake for one hour to one hour and 15 min – tenting the bread once it has risen to make sure it bakes through.

Allow the bread to cool some before you cut it open so it can finish baking.

Serve with
raspberry butter for a tasty treat!