Zucchini Bread

I've been so excited to make this recipe all week! The final item in my fridge from my friend's garden is an enormous, beautiful zucchini. I took one look at the size of the thing and instantly thought... I must make zucchini bread. And so here it is.

In a medium bowl, combine 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife), 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. baking soda. Stir gently and set aside.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup egg substitute plus one real egg. Instead, make the equivalent of 5 eggs using egg replacer of your choice (such as Ener-G), which yields the same quantity.

Combine the "eggs" in a large bowl with 1/3 cup canola oil, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. (Full disclosure: I was a bit unorganized this morning! I'd used my lemon in a recipe the night before, completely forgetting I needed to save the rind, so I used 1 tsp. bottled lemon juice instead. Also, there was only 1 tsp. vanilla extract remaining in the vial in my cabinet, so whoops! I was a teaspoon short. Shh, don't tell).

Add one and a half cups sugar, stirring to combine, then 3 cups shredded zucchini (if you are not blessed with a giant one from a friend's garden, buy about 12-oz worth of zucchini at the store). Stir in 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.

Coat two (8x4 inch) loaf pans with cooking spray, and divide the batter evenly among them. Cook at 350 degrees for one hour (a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean). Let cool on wire racks for ten minutes in the pans, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Each loaf will have 12 servings of 150 calories.


Check out the size of that zucchini! I've included my cell phone as a reference.

Cost:
all-purpose flour $3.79
zucchini - a gift!
walnuts - 4.99