OK... SO... What you are here for... Zucchini-Pineapple-Raisin Bread. My division manager at work grew some MASSIVE zucchini (like 12+ inches long!), so I grabbed two and figured I would try my hand at zucchini bread. I know it's got some healthy element (ok... so it pretty much starts and stops at the zucchini, but maybe the crushed pineapple and raisins! LOL)... I went to Facebook friends for an easy, tasty zucchini bread recipe (Alright, alright... I emphasized the "EASY" part!). I didn't have to look far since my hubby posted a Zucchini-Pineapple Bread right away from Taste of Home (recipe here). Only thing we were missing was the pineapple which he went out in the morning and got for me! What a sweetie!!
First, some zucchini tips. This was the first zucchini I ever worked with like this. You will first wash the outside of the zucchini (you grate the skin as well, so make sure it's nice and clean!). Take a knife and slice length-wise down the zucchini. If there are seeds, slide a spoon down and get rid of the seeds. In the middle, there is also like a mushy part. Try to get that part out as well with the spoon (otherwise, if you are grating it like I did, the mushy part wouldn't grate, so I just tossed it as I grated). Then, since mine were so long, I cut them in half to make it a bit more manageable while I grated. Once I grated, I strained the zucchini. When I got the 2 cups out for the recipe, I put them on some paper towels and grabbed a few more to put on top and try to press out any extra moisture. I personally had another 2+ cups that I didn't use for the recipe, so I put them in 1-cup (well... 2 1-cup and 1 3/4-cup) snack bags, squeezed out the air, and then put them in a larger bag so they were double bagged before putting them in the freezer...
Wet Ingredients (Combine in a bowl):
~ 3 eggs
~ 2 cups finely chopped zucchini
~ 1 cup vegetable oil
~ 1 8oz can crushed pineapple, drained
~ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients (Combine in a separate bowl):
~ 3 cups all-purpose flour
~ 2 cups sugar
~ 2 teaspoons baking soda
~ 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
~ 1 teaspoon salt
~ 3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
~ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
You can also have chopped nuts or raisins... We opted for some raisins.
Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl just until moistened.
Fold in raisins or nuts if you desire. Recipe says "1 cup"... I say "However much you want!" I have no clue how much I put in. We like raisins. LOL
Get your oven preheating to 350-degrees (if you haven't already).
Now... you can grease your loaf pans. If you opt to go with the butter or spray, be sure to then coat the pan with flour - otherwise, it won't rise. Not that I ever dealt with that or anything. OR!! You can try this wonderful, wonderful product!!! Wilton Cake Release
!!! You don't have to coat the pan with flour. Just shake it a little, squeeze some inside whatever pan you use, use a pastry brush to brush it around the pan and up the sides (don't forget corners!! I always try to make sure I get plenty in the corners!), and the cake/bread/whatever comes out BEAUTIFUL!!!!! As a former corners-still-stuck-in-the-pan baker, I can further appreciate this product!! It's great!!
The original recipe says that for 2 8x4 loaf pans, it is 50-60 minutes. I couldn't find our larger loaf pans, so instead, I made them in mini loaf pans. I arranged them so that the one with the least amount of batter (whoops!) was in the middle - thus would have less of a chance of burning. I put it in 5 mini-loaf pans. I tried it for 35 minutes first. That seemed to cook the middle one but the others needed some time, so I put them in for another 10 minutes - that did the trick, and we were good!!
Thanks to the cake release, I put a hot pad on the top, turned the pan over, and with no effort, had the loaf in my hand (well... hot pad! LOL).
A little bit of butter was great! My hubby also recommends some honey! It's a great little treat and you have no idea you are eating zucchini!!! :-)
