Erin’s Zucchini Bread

Recipe Notes Makes 2 loaves.

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups peeled, grated zucchini

Optional: ½ cup chopped walnuts, slivered almonds, coconut flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease 2, 9 x 5 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pans.

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside.

With a hand or stand mixer, combine the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Fold in the zucchini. Gradually add the dry ingredients until just combined, then fold in any optional ingredients. Divide the batter into the loaf pans and distribute it evenly.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

After they cool, remove them from the pans. I always serve one right away and wrap the other one up for the freezer. It’s a perfect bread to defrost and warm up for break­fast. They can also become a simple and beautiful dessert at home or to take to a party: Sprinkle the loaves liberally with vanilla-infused con­fectioner’s sugar (that’s just a shaker of confectioner’s sugar that you keep a small vanilla pod in). Dip a sharp knife into a glass of hot water (helps to make clean slices!) and cut off the ends, then portion the rest into 1- inch slices. I place the slices on a very long (22 inches) white serving platter, arrange them so the two loaves look like one, and gently fan them out.