Zucchini Bread

Zucchini is an awesome vegetable, don't ya think!  I think it's my favorite vegetable to cook with. There are sooo many things you can do with it!  I love using it when I'm baking because you usually don't even notice it's there but it healthifies whatever your baking and makes it super moist.  

I love zucchini bread but I haven't made it before so I searched the internet for a good recipe. I quickly came across this recipe titled, "The Best Zucchini Bread" on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. She said she's made plenty of zucchini bread over the years and that this was by far the best recipe. I trusted her and went with her recipe.  And you know what? She was right! This is the best zucchini bread I've had! This is now one of my favorite quick bread recipes.

Zucchini Bread
Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe slightly adapted from Cook's Country

*Makes one loaf of bread

Ingredients:
1 pound zucchini (you’ll end up with about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of zucchini once it has been shredded and wrung through a towel to rid of excess liquid)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt (not fat-free)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or sour cream
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
Adjust an oven rack to middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously coat a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Chop the ends off the zucchini (just 1/4-inch off each end) and finely shred the zucchini, peel and all. Place the shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel, wrap the towel, and wring the ends to squeeze out all the excess water. You should have about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of dry zucchini. Set the zucchini aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk the sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice or sour cream, and butter until combined.

Gently fold the yogurt mixture and zucchini into the flour mixture, using a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients together until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake until golden brown and a think knife or skewer inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 45-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes then turn out into wire rack to cool for at least 1 hour. Store well-covered for up to three days.