I love receiving our every other Saturday farm box. And in our last box we received 2 beautiful organic zucchini. Although zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables (actually it’s a fruit, but who gives a hoot about nomenclature for all practical purposes), I forgot about these 2 beauties in my quest to use up some of the more exotic veggies before our next delivery arrived. So when I decided to take another look in my veggie drawer, I was met with 2 veggies I know had seen better days. I felt so bad. So I decided to honor these 2 zucchini by preparing something with them that would pay homage to their versatility. And the first thing that came to mind was zucchini bread.

Although I already have daughter Ursala’s great zucchini bread recipe (Zucchini Seed and Nut Bread) on this site, I was up for an adventure. So I went on line and found Jenn Segal’s (Once upon a Chef) Zucchini Bread recipe. Now I very much respect this wonderful chef. But I can almost never leave a recipe alone. So I made a few changes and came up with this version. And it turned out very nicely. In fact – we loved the bread.

So if you too would like a moist and tender, very tasty quick bread to serve to your family, I offer up this recipe. It really is a fabulous way to use zucchini, even zucchini that has seen better days. And one of the marvelous things about this recipe, besides not having to use a mixer – you don’t have to wring the liquid out of the grated zucchini. Just pile it into a measuring cup and call it good!

So as always, I hope you enjoy this recipe. I also hope you are planning to make this Thanksgiving as special as every other previous Thanksgiving. Even if, or should I say, especially if only immediate family members are going to be at table. All the more reason to make this Thanksgiving meal memorable. After all, who is more important than your own family members?

If you need inspiration, don’t hesitate to search my blog under Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes for suggestions and recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts. For help deciding on a menu, search under Thanksgiving Menu. Peace and love to all.

1 T. brandy, apple juice, or water

½ c. golden raisins

2½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed

½ c. whole-wheat pastry flour or regular (fluffed) whole wheat flour in a pinch

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

3 lg. eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. granulated sugar

¾ c. brown sugar, packed

2 c. grated zucchini (do not wring out the liquid)

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and mostly cooled (slightly warm is fine)

1 c. chopped walnuts

Generously grease two 8×4-inch loaf pans (glass preferred) with nonstick cooking spray. Place a piece of parchment paper along the bottom of each pan and give the parchment paper a light spray too. Set pans aside.

Gently warm the brandy and golden raisins in a small pan. Remove from heat, stir, and set aside to cool. (Plumped raisins are best in any kind of recipe. Especially when they are plumped with booze!)

Whisk the flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt together in a small mixing bowl. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together. Add the grated zucchini and melted butter. Using a rubber spatula, stir to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the nuts and golden raisins. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the middle of each bread comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set the pans on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto the rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Great gently warmed and lightly spread with room temperature butter.