My mom was famous for her zucchini bread, so when my friend Natalie emailed me for a recipe, I was more than willing to bake a couple of loaves today, photograph them, and of course eat them! My children thank you very much for the request! Natalie and her family have been living in Switzerland for the past few years. They moved in 2011 and I’m counting the days till her return! She is truly one of the funniest people I know and I really enjoy sharing recipes with her. Every now and then, she posts recipe requests on Facebook and gets quite a response from family and friends. Once she requested a brownie recipe because she couldn’t find boxed brownie mix in Switzerland. Hmm, poor Natalie, stuck in Switzerland with no boxed brownies! I couldn’t let that happen so I quickly sent her two different recipes, one made with cocoa powder and one made with melted chocolate. Her email back to me was simply – bless you my friend! I checked my mailbox for days, but nothing arrived. I assume they were so good that she didn’t have a square to spare!

Okay, back to the zucchini bread… Natalie’s daughter Julia went to a friend’s house and fell in love with the zucchini bread her friend’s mother baked for them. Being the terrific mom she is, Natalie didn’t waste any time looking for a recipe! This is an easy recipe for me to post, as I’ve been baking zucchini bread for as long as I can remember. My mother was famous for her zucchini bread, hence the title! It could be because is not as heavy as some recipes. When I started making it, I cut way down on the sugar, and some of the oil.

When my boys were younger I would make this all the time for an after school snack and always baked extra to send in their lunchbox, and to share with a friend. They didn’t know it was loaded with vegetables and I kept that secret to myself! I can’t remember the first time my mom made it or where she got the recipe, but I do know why it’s called famous. Whenever I would visit her in Florida, she would have many loaves of zucchini bread in her freezer. When I asked her why she had so many, she said “oh, because I’m famous for my zucchini bread here at the condo, everyone wants my recipe!” My mom wasn’t a big fan of eating vegetables and I assume when she found this recipe, she felt she was getting a nice serving of vegetables for the day. I can almost hear her saying something like, it has zucchini in it so it’s good for you – have another piece! So make my mother happy and get a good healthy serving of vegetables today! Enjoy!

3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 cups zucchini grated and moisture squeezed out*
4 extra large eggs
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
2teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins or cranberries – reconstituted** (optional)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 small (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple drained well (optional but highly recommended!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans and set aside.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. If you are adding raisins or nuts add them to the flour. In another large bowl, beat sugar, oil and eggs and vanilla until creamed. Note: If you don’t want the zucchini to be obvious in the bread, use a fine box grater, if not, a regular grate is fine. I usually do a combination of the two 50/50. Add the zucchini and if using pineapple or dried fruit add them as well. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture in a couple of batches and stir until combined. Mix just until combined, over mixing will make a tough bread or muffin. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean; there may be a little bit of crumb on the toothpick, that will be okay. Note: If they are browning too much on the top, but not done in the center, place a sheet of aluminum foil over and keep an eye on them for the last few minutes of baking.

*If you don’t want the zucchini to be obvious in the bread, use a fine box grater, if not, a regular grate is fine. I usually do a combination of the two 50/50.

**When I bake with dried fruit, I like to reconstitute them before adding them to the batter. If I know ahead of time, I’ll leave a cup of dried fruit in a container with 2 cups of room temperature water covered lightly overnight on my counter. Then in the morning, I drain the fruit in a colander. For times when I don’t plan ahead, I’ll put the dried fruit in a bowl and pour hot water over it for at least 1/2 an hour. I don’t like a chewy dried fruit in my breads and muffins. If you do, definitely skip this step.

This recipe also makes great muffins. Note: if you choose to make muffins, the recipe will yield 24 large muffins or 48 mini muffins. Bake approximately 18 to 22 minutes for larger muffins and 14 to 16 minutes for minis. Test with a toothpick and if it comes out dry, it’s done. Keep and eye on the muffins and don’t over-bake them, you want them to be moist.