Zucchini Banana Bread

It is the time of year when zucchini is in abundance but not everyone likes zucchini.  This bread has a more banana flavor with the moistness provided by the zucchini!  This recipe is from the Avrie Cooks blog and she included a recipe for icing which I'm sure is wonderful but I didn't have time for it.  I took 2 Tbs of buttercream icing from a can and threw it in the microwave for 10 seconds and stirred to make it more of a glaze.  It was fabulous drizzled over the bread since the bread is not super sweet.

Zucchini Banana Bread

Makes one 9-by-5-inch loaf (Note: I made as one 9-by-5-inch loaf but you may wish to divide batter among two 8-by-4-inch loaves and reduce baking time by about 10 minutes; or bake as 3 or more mini loaves, bake in a 9-inch square pan, as 10-cup Bundt cake, or as muffins; adjusting baking times as necessary)

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (half of one stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

6 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt (one standard-sized small container; Greek yogurt preferred, or sour cream may be substituted – do not use fat free or light yogurt or sour cream)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup grated zucchini, loosely packed

1 to 1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (1 large or 2 small very ripe bananas)

one 3.4-ounce box vanilla instant pudding mix (not Cook ‘n Serve), optional see notes below

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

Preheat oven to 325F, spray pan (s) with cooking spray with flour or grease and flour the pan(s)s; set aside.

In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power. To the melted butter, add the sugars, egg, yogurt, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Add the zucchini, bananas, and stir to incorporate.

Add the dry pudding mix, and stir to combine (Note: You are not making pudding; simply add the mix as a dry ingredient. You don’t have to use pudding mix but it creates wonderful moisture and flavor in the bread. If omitting, you may wish to add an additional 1/4 cup granulated sugar and an additional 1/4  to 1/3 cup flour, based on taste preference and how your batter looks). Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or bread will be tougher as the gluten will over-develop. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for about 60 to 65 minutes (this is for one 9-by-5-inch loaf), or until top is golden and set, and a wooden skewer, cake tester, or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. If bread is browning a bit fast on the top, you may wish to lower your oven temperature to 300F midway through cooking, at about the 30-minute mark if your oven runs hot or tent the pan with foil in approximately the last 20 minutes of cooking. Allow bread to cool in the loaf pan for at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.