Zucchini Bread

Another way to put zucchini to (good!) use.

This is a fairly basic zucchini bread recipe but, taking a lesson from Maggie, I used lots of bright lemon zest to keep this quickbread out of the Christmas flavor zone. I passed on cloves-as-spicing, though I did use a little ground ginger (btw, I didn't have any on hand, but I think fresh ginger would be awesome here), and a good amount of cinnamon. The cayenne pepper registers only as a background note, but one that I found very enjoyable -- it's just present enough that you know it's there if you know it's there, if you know what I mean.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
zest of two small lemons
3 cups coarsely grated zucchini (about 3 medium, or one giant as was my case)
1 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350° F and line two loaf pans with parchment paper (or butter/flour them).

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, ginger, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the lemon zest, grated zucchini, and walnuts if using.

Pour the batter into the loaf pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 40-45 minutes).

This recipe makes two loaves.