Zucchini Banana Bread

The August FBLA meeting was all about tomatoes and zucchinis.  The challenge for those attending, “What to make?”

The tomato part was a no brainer–gazpacho in fact the recipe for that is just a click away. This time I made two batches one with red and another with green zebra tomatoes to create an array of colors.

Since I noticed that we had a few bananas on the verge of over ripe, I decided any recipe had to have zucchinis and bananas.

This proved a bit more of a challenge–zucchini pancakes didn’t seem to fit with the sweetness of bananas.  I then thought about a bread with bananas AND zucchinis.  My search lead to this wonderful recipe from Valerie Patterson of Hidden Oaks Inn, Sonoma, CA

ZUCCHINI BANANA BREAD

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or for a lower fat version use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce)
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon banana extract
• 2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)
• 2 cups unpeeled and shredded/grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (original recipe said these were optional unless you’re allergic add the walnuts they give it crunch.)

1. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and baking powder.  Combine in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl combine and mix together the oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla and banana extract.  Once combined add smushed bananas, grated zucchini and walnuts.
3. Stir in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.  Pour batter into two well greased loaf pans and bake in 350 oven for about 55 minutes or until a knife inserted into loaf comes out clean.