This is the one. I don't know what it is about this zucchini bread but I can't seem to make enough of it no matter how many gardens Dad raids for zucchini. It's moist, it has a touch of cinnamon and...nothing else fancy.
When we're baking for farmers markets, I have to move as quickly as possible. I know there's a school of thought that you should always sift together the dry ingredients but honestly? We go through flour so quickly that I don't get any lumps. I add the dry ingredients in a particular way that seems to evenly disburse the leavening, giving the dense bread a bit of lightness.
Public Service Announcement regarding sour cream: Have you ever read the label on your sour cream? With the exception of one major brand - Daisy - most of the commercial sour cream you buy in the stores contains gelatin. Why? What's so hard about sour cream? I'll admit to not realizing it until a few years ago. When we switched our supply shopping to Costco, the only brand they offered was Daisy. I realized I would have to change the labels for the products that used it and found it refreshing. Suddenly, I only had three words to type rather than 15 - (cultured cream (MILK)).
Remove a few more chemicals from your life by looking for the word "Natural" on your sour cream. Kroger's Natural Sour Cream is the same price as the others.
3 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit). Grease and flour or spray 2 9 x 5 inch bread pans.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium until well-combined. It will smell VERY good! Turn off the mixer.
Add one cup of flour, the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir at low speed (to keep flour from flying all over the kitchen) just until blended. Add the other two cups of flour and again, on low speed, mix just until blended.
Fold in the zucchini and walnuts, being careful not to over-mix.
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. You need to use a cake tester for this bread - when the tester is clean, the bread is done.
Let the zucchini bread cool in the pans on racks for 10-15 minutes, then turn out of the pans. If you can stand it, let it cool at least another 10-15 minutes before slicing into it and smothering it with butter.
After the bread is completely cooled (and if you have any left!), store at room temperature in a sealed zip bag. Or, if you've invested in the right size containers, use those. The zucchini bread also freezes very well for at least one month.
