blueberry zucchini bread

All right, I admit it, the only way you could claim that Blueberry Zucchini Bread is vicious, is by the effect it has on your waistline – this recipe is definitely not for those on a diet! In fact, when I first made this recipe and shared it two years ago, Sara made a comment to the effect of “one slice of this bread is an entire day’s worth of WW points.”

So while it may not be vicious, this bread is pretty damn delicious. Plus, I’m a big fan of any baked goods that incorporate fruits and vegetables (carrot cake, banana bread) – that way I can at least pretend I’m eating something healthy. And not only does this recipe include zucchini, but it has blueberries – a superfood! So instead of fretting over the sugar and oil in the recipe, just think of all antioxidants, Vitamin C, and fiber you’re gobbling up!

As an added bonus, the zucchinis for this recipe came from my mother’s garden – she always seems to have a surplus of “green baseball bats” as she calls them (they’re huge!).

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

From LAUJRA on AllRecipes

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups white sugar

2 cups shredded zucchini

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.

Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Notes: The recipe calls for using 4 mini loaf pans, but I’ve always baked the bread in full sized loaf pans and baked the loaves a little longer (maybe 60-65 minutes total). As written, the recipe will make 2 full sized loaves and you will probably have a little batter left over that you could use to make a few muffins or perhaps a mini loaf. When I made the recipe last week, I doubled it and got 5 full sized loaves – and there was still some batter left over. I will warn you that doubling the recipe was almost a disaster due to the unwieldy amount of batter and not having a large enough mixing bowl. The second near-disaster came when I thought that the zucchini was to be added at the end (with the blueberries) and started freaking out when the oil, egg, and dry ingredient mixture turned into the consistency of concrete and nearly broke my electric mixer (yes, there was a burning smell). So please learn from my failure to read the recipe all the way through – put the zucchini in before adding the dry ingredients!