During Jeanne Nolan’s visit to our garden last week, we harvested a number of crops, including an oversized, overripe zucchini.

Chicago Tonight correspondent Eddie Arruza offered to take the vegetable and make zucchini bread for staff. Today, he brought in the finished product. Read the recipe he used.

Mom's Zucchini Bread
Recipe makes two loaves or one Bundt loaf.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon nutmeg (Or 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon)
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (Or 1 cup vegetable oil, Or 1 cup unsweetened applesauce which is the healthiest option.)
1 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar (Or 2 cups white sugar)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-4 cups grated zucchini (Original recipe called for two cups of grated zucchini)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Grease and flour two 8-by-4 inch pans or 1 Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit  (165 degrees Celsius).

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. 

Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40-60 minutes (60-70 minutes for Bundt pan) or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and cool.

---