Paula Deen's Zucchini Bread

Over the holidays, I went crazy trying out new recipes. I think the holidays just call for that, don't you? Anyway, I had heard rave reviews about Paula Deen and her zucchini bread. Actually, I had heard rave reviews about zucchini bread in general but I liked the looks of Paula's the best. I modified it somewhat based on user reviews (modifications are in parentheses) and the final product was superb. 

 

A side note:  I froze quite a bit of the bread in slices.  This was so convenient on school mornings- I would pull out what I needed for the day and defrost in the microwave.  Perfect!

Paula Deen's Zucchini Bread
(online recipe found here)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I substituted 1 cup wheat flour)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (I decreased to 1 teaspoon) 
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  
• 3 cups sugar (I decreased to 2.5 cups sugar) 
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce and 1/2 cup vegetable oil)  
• 4 eggs, beaten (I used 2 eggs and 1/2 cup eggbeaters)  
• 1/3 cup water  
• 2 cups grated zucchini (I used 3 cups) 
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 
• (I also added 2 teaspoons vanilla!) 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.    
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water.  zucchini and lemon juice.  Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.   
3. Bake in two standard loaf pans, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, for one hour or until a tester comes out clean.  Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes. 

Additional Modification:

• For one of the loaf pans, add 1/2 cup (or more) chocolate chip morsels for additional sweetness.

When Lisa isn't busy caring for her three young children, she can be found at her personal blog Growing Up Mo' or journaling about her weight loss journey at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.