Nana Seidl’s Zucchini Bread Recipe

My great grandparents were gardeners, too. They had a lovely big garden in the Midwest where my Mom grew up, and she still swears they grew the best corn she ever tasted.  She remembers how she and her siblings would be sent out to pick some for dinner and hurry it straight in to the pot.

“If you drop one on the way in,” her grandpa would say, “don’t even bother turning around to pick it up–it’s too old by then.”

I wish I could meet them and wander that garden as she did…. But the special joy of multiple generations working in the garden and enjoying the harvest together lives on.

And so does this zucchini bread recipe. It was a staple of my childhood every summer when we had more zucchini than we knew what to do with… and it freezes great too.

I won’t make any promises about its health value, since this recipe came from a time when people weren’t as worried about sugar and fat (and of course in the Midwest, butter is life). You’re welcome to try  your own substitutions if you wish, but try the original first.  Count it as dessert if you must, but hey, at least it’s got two full cups of veggies per loaf!

In the ingredients below you will see the original recipe, with my own notes (in parentheses) for optional adjustments.

Zucchini Bread Wet Ingredients:

• 3 Eggs
• 4 cups of shredded zuchhini (pack ’em full!)
• 1 cup oil (2/3 cup is adequate)
• 1 cup sugar (I reduced to ~1/2 cup brown sugar + 1/4 cup white)

Blend together, then add:

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (replace a cup or so with whole wheat flour if you wish)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or a little more, especially if you’re reducing sugar)
• Optional: 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Mix by hand with a wooden spoon.

Divide into two loaf pans (greased and dusted with flour) and bake at 350* for about an hour.

I personally love my glass loaf pan (see affiliate link below) because it keeps the bottom from burning and is usually quite non-stick.)

If that’s way too long for you to have your oven on in the summer, pour it into muffin pans instead and bake for 15-20 minutes!