Zucchini Bread Three Ways

'Tis the summer season of backyard gardens overflowing with fresh summer veggies and herbs. This past Sunday was our first find of an over grown zucchini. I was actually very surprised because we only have harvested 3 zucchini's total this season and they were on the smaller side-a lack of patience and excitement for summer harvesting! The only use for this big guy was to shred him up and make zucchini bread. I obviously browsed Smitten Kitchen for recipes first looking to see if there were any recipes that could tolerate an over sized, woody zucchini like the one we had... zucchini fritters were a possibility but I already had my mind set on something sweet and on the addition of dark chocolate chips, so I stuck with the plan. The recipe I used can be found here Smitten Kitchen's Zucchini Bread. 

 After grating the zucchini and finding that I had 4 cups, I decided to double the batch. This was an easy decision because my refrigerator is overflowing with fresh eggs from the chickens (this recipe calls for three eggs per two loaves!). I split the batter into three large loaves (instead of the recommended four) and mixed pecans into one loaf, dark chocolate chips into the second loaf and left the third loaf to be a plain Jane. The list of possible additions is endless, cranberries, raisins, all types of nuts, seeds, chocolate, spices....sesame seeds or sunflower seeds are next on my list.

I was so incredibly happy with how this recipe turned out...moist...crumbly...and a perfect ratio of spices and sweetness level.

The advice I have...be careful not to over stir the wet and dry ingredients, gently mix them until just combined. If you over stir the result will be doughy and not crumbly like a muffin. Also, if using an oven with confection bake, remember to decrease the temperature set by 25 degrees from whatever the recipe calls for and check for the bread to be finished after 30 minutes. After the three breads were out of the oven, I cut each one so we could do a tasting of the three, and compare.i obviously ranked the chocolate chip first, Plain Jane second and pecan (not my favorite nut) third. Enjoy!