Recipe Corner: Zucchini Walnut Bread

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

1/2 cup golden or black raisins, optional (Plump raisins by soaking in hot water for a few minutes.  Drain well before adding.)

Coarse sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put zucchini in strainer and press or squeeze with hands to get excess liquid out.

Grease two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. In large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla.

Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, lemon zest, cinnamon, salt, nuts, and raisins, and mix together.   Add the zucchini and combine.

Spoon batter into loaf pans.  Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the sides have started to brown, about 45-50 minutes.  Let cool on a rack 10-15 minutes.

Cook’s Note:

Other dried fruit such as pitted, chopped dates, prunes, or dried cranberries can be substituted measure-for-measure for raisins.  When measuring flour, spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)

Christine’s recipes have been published in the Fresno Bee newspaper, Sunset magazine, Cooking Light magazine, and at http://www.thearmeniankitchen.com/