Zucchini Bread

My friends Tom and John have this amazing garden in Sonoma. The other day Tom came into work with a zucchini for me that was the biggest zucchini I have ever seen. If you worked with us you can imagine the jokes about it. :-)

Since I didn't know what to do with this thing the obvious choice was Zucchini Bread. I searched my cookbooks and couldn't find anything that inspired me so I turned to the net. I found this recipe on Recipezaar, one of my very favorite cooking sites. It was submitted by MizzNezz. I made four loaves today and they are amazing! Just thought I would share it with you!

The bread has this crunchy top that I think is from the orange juice and the apple sauce. It's moist, not too sweet and very flavorful. This certainly deserves one big, YUMMO!!!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnut

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In large bowl, mix sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Beat until well blended.
4. Add zucchini, applesauce and orange juice; stir well.
5. Combine flour with next 5 ingredients.
6. Add to zucchini mixture; stir well.
7. Add nuts; stir gently to combine.
8. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9in loaf pans.
9. Bake for 60-70 minutes; till toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool in pans 10 minutes.
11. Remove from pans and let cool completely.