Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Zucchini Bread with Basil and Golden Raisins


It was bound to happen. I have too much zucchini growing in the garden. All of it sprouted from the soil without any interference (or encouragement) on our part! I must admit that this year’s crop is delicious. The squash has a light creamy flavor. Sautéed in olive oil results in a buttery taste and texture. I think we ate zucchini with every meal for a week and actually didn’t tire of it. I obviously have zucchini on the brain if I happened to notice that one crop we picked happened to look like a value scale. I guess it’s the artist in me!

Last year I experimented with a zucchini bread that wasn’t too sweet and more interesting then just zucchini. I know the classic odd pairing is zucchini with chocolate, but I wasn’t after a dessert bread. So here is my take: Zucchini Bread with Basil and Golden Raisins! It bakes up beautifully. Stays very moist and not too sweet.



11/2 c flour
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 c Canola Oil
2 large eggs; beaten
1/2 c sugar
1/12 tsp vanilla
1 lb zucchini coarsely shredded
1 cup fresh basil; shredded
1/2 c chopped golden raisins

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a parchment lined loaf pan. Mine is shiny metal not the black heavy kind.
2. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.
3. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients except for the zucchini, raisins and basil.
4. Fold the zucchini, raisins and basil into the wet ingredients.
5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Do not over mix.
6. Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer pulls out cleanly from the center. Remove from pan and let cool.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

zucchini bread with chocolate...!?

I'll send in my order.

Anonymous said...

Very intriguing idea! I have a ton of basil growing on my deck so I am definitely bookmarking this for future use. Thanks for being so creative.

Anonymous said...

In your garden, the zuchinni definitely has a mind of its own, but your recipe puts it in its place - on the palate with pleasure.
Fran

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Anonymous said...

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