Got Zukes?

Ah yes, the zucchini plants are in full-force now! I swear, there are two new ripe ones every day in my garden! And new ones starting every day, too! So, what do I do with all that squash? Here are two options:

shred 'em (I remove the seeds but leave the peel),



bag 'em and freeze

(I freeze two cups per bag for zucchini bread/muffin recipes),

make zucchini bread!

I think I found this recipe online (big surprise) last year, but had not tried it until this week. It's SUPER moist and has a yummy twist: Nutella! Regan, of course, loves it! Enjoy!

Nutella Zucchini Swirl Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (this is NOT a typo; I only used 1 tsp. though)

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups freshly grated zucchini

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease one 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.  Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a bowl.  In a separate bowl, stir together eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla.  Make sure it is fully combined.  Pour flour mixture into egg mixture, stirring until completely combined.  Pour entire mixture into loaf pan.  Dollop the Nutella on top and swirl it into the batter with a dull knife.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is set.  You will know the bread is done when the center springs back when lightly touched.

The Nutella kind of sunk to the bottom of my bread. I think I "swirled" it a little too much, but it still tasted great when biting into a big glob of chocolate! Yum!