Blueberry Zucchini Bread

We tried a new bread recipe this week, and it turned out so yummy we are planning on making several more batches to freeze! I was introduced to this recipe from AllRecipes by our cousin Sara. We made 3 mini loafs and a batch of muffins with this recipe. Perfect for all the zucchini we have growing in the garden (did I mention Brad planted 6...yes SIX...zucchini plants this year...that is a boatload of zucchini for our little family!) and all the fresh, yummy blueberries we are getting this time of year!

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups zucchini, shredded
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the loaf pans.
3. Bake 50 min or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 20 min in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

P.S. For those of you who are having trouble locating my recipe collection now that I am no longer posting to my former recipe blog, you can still find all my recipes here at R&R by clicking on the sidebar link for "Recipes" or by searching more specifically by ingredient using the drop down box of labels. :)

Cranberry Orange Loaf

I found this recipe on AllRecipes the day I was baking for our Christmas brunch and immediately decided to make it. I believe this is my all-time favorite bread. I added a glaze by mixing powdered sugar and orange juice. This is the perfect bread for a special brunch or holiday!

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
* 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
* 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
* 1/4 cup margarine, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 3/4 cup orange juice


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in orange zest, cranberries, and pecans. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in orange juice. Beat in flour mixture until just moistened. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched. Let stand 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Wrap in plastic when completely cool.

Cran-Zucchini Pear Bread

My friend, Allison took the pears and made her own twist on a pear-zucchini bread recipe. (For those of you who don't know Allison, she is the queen of mixing flavors!) This bread was delicious! I thought it would be a perfect bread for Christmas time because of the red and green in it. You could even throw in a little cinnamon! Thanks for sharing Ally!

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 eggs
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups finely chopped peeled ripe pears
* 1 cup shredded zucchini
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.
2. In another bowl, beat eggs, oil and vanilla. Add the pears and zucchini.
3. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in nuts.
4. Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Allison's Additions:
I added some coarsely chopped fresh cranberries, orange zest, and white chocolate chips! =)

Pear Bread

This is probably one of my all time favorite breads to eat. Every year we make a whole bunch of loaves to pass out to friends and family and this year we froze quite a few as well. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
* 3 cups flour
* 1/4 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 3 eggs
* 2 cups peeled shredded pears
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 cups sugar


DIRECTIONS:
1. In lg bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center.
2. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, sugar, pears, pecans, and vanilla. Blend well. Add to well of dry ingredients.
3. Stir just until moist. Spoon into 2 greased and floured 8x5x3 loaf pans.
4. Bake at 325 for 1 hr 15 min. Cool on a wire rack before removing.

Zucchini Cakes

I tried this new recipe I found in an old magazine that looked like a great way to use up some of the zucchini we have from the garden. They are basically corn muffins baked with zucchini, cheese, and cayenne pepper for some spice. I couldn't find my cayenne pepper so I used crushed red pepper flakes. Next time I would try adding even more pepper flakes because I couldn't really taste them, but these were still pretty good...just different. They would be a great side for a meal and a nice alternative to a traditional corn muffin.

INGREDIENTS:
* 1/2 of a medium zucchini, shredded (1 cup)
* 1 (8.5 oz) pkg corn muffin mix
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz)
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray, set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl combine zucchini, muffin mix, cheese, milk, egg, and cayenne pepper. Spoon evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown.

Yields: 12 muffins

Zucchini Bread

Well our six zucchini plants are doing very well, and we have been enjoying quite a lot of zucchini bread these days! It is soooo yummy fresh out of the oven with a little butter on it! Here is the recipe that we use.

INGREDIENTS:

* 3 cups shredded zucchini

* 1 2/3 cups sugar

* 1/3 cup vegetable oil

* 2 tsp vanilla

* 4 large eggs

* 3 cups all purpose flour

* 2 tsp baking soda

* 1 tsp salt

* 1 tsp ground cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp ground cloves

* 1/2 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts

* 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Lower the oven rack so the tops of the pans will be in the center of the oven. Heat to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2in, or 1 loaf pan 9 x 5 x 3 in.

2. Mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans.

3. Bake 8 in loaves 50-60 min, 9 in loaf 1hr 10min-1 hr 20 min, until toothpick inserted in center comes clean. COol 10 min on wire rack before removing from pans. Cool before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

The Easiest Beer Bread

Really, it has to be one of the easiest recipes I've ever made. I honestly can't remember where I got it from because I have it memorized and don't need to even look it up when I make it. There are definitely some good beer bread recipes out there with a lot more ingredients, but this is a quick and easy one that is perfect for a family on the go!

INGREDIENTS:

* 3 cups self-rising flour

* 3 Tbsp sugar

* 1 bottle/can any flavor beer

We have experimented with all different kinds of beer and every type will give you a slightly different flavor. We used Honey Brown for this particular recipe. Woodchuck cider is also one of our favorites. I have heard of people also using sprite or root beer in their beer bread as a substitute...I have never tried that with this recipe and am not sure if it would work because I'm pretty sure the yeast in the beer helps it rise since you aren't adding yeast. But if anyone out there tries it please let me know how it turns out!

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all ingredients until dough forms. Add dough to a medium loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 min at 350 degrees until golden brown and baked through.