I’ve mentioned here on the blog before that my uncle grows vegetables in the community where he lives. When the family gets together, farmer John brings us zucchini, squash, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers and anything else he decides to grow each season. We pour the bags out on the counter and divide stuff up and it really is a fun part of our family gatherings. Zucchini and corn = summer for me.
I seem to always go for savory recipes when it comes to vegetables. Salty is my thing and I absolutely hate baking because of the precise measuring. In fact after making frosted cookies over the 4th of July for my Dad’s birthday and throwing stuff in the kitchen out of frustration – getting flour down the space between the stove and the counter/cabinets, spilling gel food coloring on the granite, having the sprinkle top come off while shaking onto a cookie, rolling out dough for the 20th time to have it tear – I decided that it was too much baking dramz for this girl. I like creating as I go… a little of this, and a little of that.
I started seeing recipes on Pinterest and Facebook for zucchini bread and then found a whole bunch with lemon. I do love me some lemony desserts, so when I saw “added lemon glaze” – I knew I had found my ispiration to get started.
I happened to have all ingredients on hand. This was my first time trying Trader Joe’s Organic Powdered Sugar and it was a success. Love the self-closing pouch, instead of the blue box I normally purchase that poofs powder everywhere when you open it – or is that just me?
I’ve broken nearly every grater I own over the past year – what can I say? I’m a vigorous grater. I’ve been meaning to purchase a metal box grater, but really don’t want to take up space in my cabinet to store it. All I had available was one of my mircoplanes and I was worried that it would be too fine for the job.
While it was a little mushy, it worked out great. I sailed through the rest of the steps and was super happy with the final results.
Three hours later – prep time, cook time, cool time, glaze time – I was able to take my loaf into the backyard for a little photo shoot.
It was super awesome when the glazed poured out the holes onto my teak patio table. Ha-ha.
Yay, it was husband approved and I’m fairly certain could easily become a family favorite if you were to give it a try. The bread was the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. If you or other family members (kiddos) are zucchini haters for some reason, my bet is that you/they would actually still like this bread. It was THAT good.
- 1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
- 3/4 Cup sugar
- 1 Cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini (do not squeeze/dry shredded zucchini)
- 1/4 Cup vegetable oil
- 1 Large egg
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest (yellow only)
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- LEMON GLAZE
- 1 Cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Teaspoons lemon zest
- In a medium mixing bowl - combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl - combine sugar, zucchini, cooking oil, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to zucchini mixture; stir just until combined.
- Spoon batter into greased loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool in pan on a wire rack 20 min, then remove from pan and cool completely.
- Once cool, combine ingredients for glaze and drizzle over bread.
- These would be great as muffins too. I'd adjust the time to 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees F.
