Food Gifts: Zucchini Bread with Sweet & Nutty Topping

Shortly after I graduated from college, my grandmother sent me a cookbook that she and the ladies from her woman's club had compiled with some of their favorite recipes.  In it was her chocolate zucchini cake - an unbelievable treat that will have you scratching your head wondering if there really is zucchini in it!  More on that another day... today I want to share with you my zucchini bread recipe, adapted from the cookbook.

Zucchini was on sale at the grocery store and I picked up a bunch of them.  They puree and freeze well and I like to have a couple cups on hand in the freezer for those times I want to make this bread (or Gram's cake) on a whim.  This recipe makes two loaves and is great for freezing - or gift giving. 

It just so happens that a great friend of ours recently celebrated a birthday.  Now I know she's a big fan of my apple bread, and I'm hoping that she'll like this bread as much.

Zucchini Bread with Sweet & Nutty Topping

 
Ingredients:
2 cups Zucchini, grated
3 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Grease and flour 2 bread pans.  Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the wet ingredients.  Sift the dry ingredients and combine with the wet ingredients. If you like, you can add an extra 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the mixture. Set aside and make the topping.

  
Topping:
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup brown sugar

Combine oats, walnuts and brown sugar with the back of a fork (do not add butter). Then, pour the batter into the prepared pans, then sprinkle to the oat, nut and sugar mixture on the top.


Bake for 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing, and be careful not to lose all that tasty crunchy topping!

Freezing & Thawing:
Once the bread has completely cooled, put it in a freezer bag, then put that into another bag.Thaw in the fridge overnight.


Once the bread was completely cooled, I bagged it and then decorated it with a bit of curling ribbon, using scissors to make tight spirals, and my thumbnail to make loose curls.  It's a simple gift, but one from the heart. Forgive the photos on this one - all I had handy was my cell phone!