Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Zucchini Bread


I had a meeting with my dissertation committee this morning to update them on my progress. I presented my current results, discussed my proposed studies as well as my timeline for graduation (hopefully soon!) I decided that it would be a great idea to bring something homemade to the meeting to get my committee members in a good mood for my presentation, so I made zucchini bread (my mom's recipe). It was really tasty (I had a piece after the meeting) and my committee members seemed to like it! They were also impressed that I was both a PhD student and a good baker! The meeting went very well, so I will call the bread a success!

Zucchini Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

4 eggs
1 3/4 C sugar
1 C oil
3 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla
2 C grated zucchini (1 zucchini= about 1 cup)
1 C walnuts (optional...I usually leave nuts out when I am baking for other people)

1. Beat eggs slightly in an electric mixer.
Normally this step would not require a picture, but for the first time ever I got a DOUBLE YOLK EGG! It was crazy. I did some reading online and found out that they are relatively uncommon in supermarket eggs but common in nature. I also read that it was good luck, so I decided to include it in the bread.

2. Add sugar and oil to eggs and combine.
3. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients slowly to wet ingredients, mixing to combine.
5. Grate zucchini in food processor using grating blade followed by regular blade. Measure one cup and then press out excess water.
6. Add zucchini, vanilla and (optional) nuts to batter.
7. Spread in 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans and bake at 350 for one hour.

8. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of pan and cool completely.

Difficulty: Easy
Debbie's Rating: 9
Committee's Rating: Well, I didn't tell them about my blog, so I don't have a number, but there were sufficient "mmm's" and second pieces taken to know that they liked it.


4 comments:

  1. Congrats on both the bread and the committee meeting! Thats great news :) and i make zucchini bread all the time for matt - he loves it. and it freezes really well so I always make 2! :)

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  2. Thanks Christina! It was definitely a relief to have it over with. Unfortunately, Hirsh does not like most kind of breads/ muffins, etc, so with the exception of my healthy-oatmeal muffins that I eat before working out, I usually can't justify making anything like that unless I have a reason. I think I should start finding more reasons. :-)

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  3. oh - healthy oatmeal muffins sound great! Can you send me the recipe? I bet matt would love those! And im always looking for new pre-workout snacks! Also, if you want you can try substituting apple sauce into some baked goods instead of oil or butter (Hirsh will never know!) :)

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  4. Hey! I emailed you the recipe for the muffins. And yes, I definitely use the applesauce trick in some muffins/ cakes. In fact, the healthy oatmeal muffins are made with applesauce! Enjoy!

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