Thursday, May 14, 2009

Zucchini-Oatmeal Bread

1-1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2-1/2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal (uncooked)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini (unpeeled)
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins (plumped)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9x5x3 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside. Combine 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar and set aside. Combine dry ingredients (except sugar and nuts) and set aside. Break eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer until foamy. Add remaining sugar, applesauce, vegetable oil and vanilla; blend well. Add flour mixture gradually; mix briefly on low speed to combine after each addition. Stir in zucchini, walnuts, and raisins by hand. Spoon into prepared pan and sprinkle reserved cinnamon/sugar mixture over top. Bake about 80 minutes or until loaf tests done. Cool in pan on wire rack for ten minutes; remove from pan to finish cooling. 

Notes:
See the sidebar for directions on plumping the raisins.

Another great Easy Recipe

Love At Home

There is beauty all around
When there's love at home.
There is joy in every sound
When there's love at home.

Roses bloom beneath our feet,
All the earth is a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete,
When there's love at home.

-- John Hugh McNaughton (1829-1891)