Taco Zucchini Bread

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread, originally uploaded by mud pie gourmet.

My brother, Craig grew some huge zucchini in his garden this year and I finally got around to making zucchini bread with it. I love zucchini bread. It is connected to my childhood--my mother would always make multiple batches to give away and freeze the rest and I would sneak them for breakfast. Mmmm, cold zucchini bread with cold milk.

My father made one thing for dinner when I was growing up--Soft corn tacos with meat. He would heat oil and fry the corn tortillas just until they were soft. Afterwards he would pore the oil back into the original bottle before getting rid of it. Enter, my sister, Jeannie. She decides to make some zucchini bread. She grabs the bottle to put the required oil into her recipe. The hot zucchini bread comes out of the oven and we all dig in. And we all quickly spit it out. Jeannie had used the taco oil in her zucchini bread on accident--not a good combination. It's a wonder I still eat zucchini bread today.

I have come up with a recipe that is yummy and healthy and I can rationalize eating it for breakfast with that big glass of milk. When we were making it Boo asked me when we eat it. She didn't know if it was a dessert, bread that goes with dinner, or what. My answer? ANYTIME!I

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

2 cups whole wheat (I use King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I use kosher)
1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 small bread pans (2 1/2 X 5 1/2--you could use one large pan, but I love the crusty parts so the smaller the better).

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl combine oil, sugar, zucchini, eggs, and zest and mix. Add dry ingredients just until combined, add pecans, if desired. Pour into bread pans. Cook for 35-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean (If you use a large bread pan you will need to up the cooking time to 55 minutes).

Store in the fridge, if you like it cold. If you prefer it hot, you can put a slice in the microwave for 25 seconds.