Awesome Zucchini Bread

I'm always thinking up interesting things to make for Saturday morning breakfast. It's one of those things that has become a tradition in my head. All the other days of the week, we eat something simple like porridge, toast or cereal, but Saturday's the day we generally eat the muffins, scones, cinnamon rolls, waffles and the other interesting baked goods. Sometimes, I make the special stuff mid-week too, but I feel like I'm doing something wrong if I serve porridge or cereal on a Saturday.

This week, when I spotted beautiful looking zucchini at the supermarket, I knew what we were having for Saturday morning breakfast. It had to be moist zucchini bread. I've made this recipe before and it never fails to please. 

I usually do a walnut zucchini bread, maybe with some raisins or chocolate chips thrown in, but this time I pulled out all the stops! This zucchini bread is loaded with cinnamon chips, 70% dark chocolate chunks, milk chocolate chips, dried cranberries and walnuts. And the resulting bread was insanely good!

My kids loved it and between the four of us, we were kinda fighting over the last slice. So so good!

Awesome Zucchini Bread

Loosely adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients 

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

3 teaspoons cinnamon powder 

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 medium eggs

1 scant cup vegetable oil, or any neutral flavored oil 

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

3 packed cups grated zucchini

Optional:

1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (I used 1/2 cup)

Upto 1 cup add-ins of your choice

(I used 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup cinnamon chips & 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries. 

Other options include any dry fruit - figs, dates, raisins etc. and any kind of chocolate chips or chunks you fancy!)

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. 

2. Grease and flour a large loaf tin. The non-stick tin I used measures 9 1/2" x 5 1/2". If using a standard 8x4 tin, I would divide the batter between two tins. 

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon powder, freshly grated nutmeg, baking powder & baking soda. Stir well to combine. 

4. If using any nuts or add-ins, stir them into the flour mixture. Set aside. 

5. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs for 2-4 minutes. 

6. Add the oil, sugar, vanilla and grated zucchini. Stir well to combine. 

7. Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and mix until completely incorporated and no dry flour pockets are visible. 

8. Pour the batter into your baking tin(s). Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean 

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing. 

The slices of this loaf disappeared fast. Chock-full of flavors - mildly sweet, super moist zucchini bread studded with morsels of sweet and bitter chocolate, melts cinnamon chips, tart cranberries and crunchy, toasty walnuts - who can resist?

Whether you're a zucchini bread fan, someone who hasn't had good experiences with zucchini bread in the past, or someone who's never ever tried zucchini bread - please make this loaf. You won't regret it!