Homemade Zucchini Bread

We have been getting lots of squash so far this summer from our CSA. Actually, it probably isn't "lots" to most people, but for a home that houses only two members and a chubby cat, one of which eats squash, we have been getting a lot of squash. I've been trying to eat it as fast as I can, but this week I had to get creative.  I've done roasted squash in stir fry, squash on my chicken vegetable skewers and have some more to use up fast. So, zucchini bread, it was.

Feel free to print this recipe card for your collection of recipes. This recipe is the perfect amount for our home, but can easily be doubled for a larger one! 

Wash, peel and chop up your zucchini. I only ended up using the zucchini pictured above and still have to figure out when to eat the yellow squash. When you are done cutting your zucchini you will have a bunch of little half-moons. 

Then, chop it up even smaller in a food processor. You will need one heaping cup full of zucchini for this recipe.

Then, add your zucchini, egg and fat and mix until combined. I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 oil because in the kitchen of a college student, you never know what ingredients you have on hand.

Then, add in your dry ingredients and mix on low until combined. Now is the time to add a huge handful of raisins if you'd like. If you are feeling really fancy you can soak said raisins for a while before making this bread so they are nice and plump. Or you can skip the raisins all together. 

Next, get out your stone loaf pan shrine-of-a-box and be thankful that you own such a lovely hand me down. This stone loaf pan came from my Grandpa's house when he passed away and just bakes bread and meatloaf so beautifully. I appreciate it every time I use it. Maybe you just have a regular loaf pan and that works just fine, too. 

Go ahead and lightly grease and flour your loaf pan so it is ready for the bread.

Pour in your mixture and shake the pan a bit so it is evenly distributed around the pan.

Then, bake at 350 for an hour, rotating half way through (as always).

 Making this bread mix is really so quick. If you are sneaky like me you can make it while your significant other is waiting on the couch with netflix all loaded and shout back to him a few times "almost done!" ..." just a minute!"..."just about ready, just have to pick up a few more things here in this kitchen!" while you quickly whip up homemade bread like it ain't no thang. Then, you can slip it into the oven, get cozy for a netflix movie with your man, and sneak back to the kitchen in 30 minutes to turn your bread around. By the time it is done cooking, you will have forgotten that you are still full from dinner and won't be able to resist the smell of warm cinnamon wafting into the living room. Your squash-hating man might even admit that it smells good, too.

When it is done baking you can flip it onto tin foil or saran rap and let it cool on a wire rack. If you are eating it within a few days you can wrap it in tinfoil, otherwise send this bad boy to the freezer for safe keeping. I cut mine in half and brought half to my mother's house for her to enjoy. From my understanding, she ate a slice or two, loved it, and then my dad mistook it for some old bread gone bad and threw it away. Whoops.

How do you use up your summer squash?