Description
Zucchini bread with walnuts and raisins is summer to me. I’m always on the lookout for a great recipe and I think this is it! Studded with toasted walnuts and golden raisins, this hearty loaf is sprinkled with sugar and gets better as it sits overnight!
Ingredients
2 cups grated, packed zucchini, not wrung out, grated on the large holes of a box grater
2 large eggs
2/3 cup of a neutral oil (I use canola)melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg – optional
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 c toasted walnuts
1/2 c raisins (I used golden raisins) (optional)
2 tablespoons raw or turbinado sugar or white sugar
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place walnuts in a small pie pan and let them toast while the oven is preheating. This usually takes about 10 minutes. Let your nose be your guide. When you smell them, they are done! After cooling, coarsely chop them into large pieces.
Lightly coat a 6-cup or 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
Place grated zucchini in a large bowl and add oil, eggs, sugars, vanilla, and salt. Use a fork to mix until combined.
Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder over surface of batter and mix until combined. Add flour, walnuts and raisins and mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the raw or turbinado sugar — don’t skimp. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick or tester inserted into the middle cake but also into the top of the cake, closer to the dome, comes out batter-free.
Let cool completely in the pan. Leave in pan, unwrapped, overnight or 24 hours, until removing (carefully!) and serving in slices. Zucchini bread keeps for 4 to 5 days at room temperature and longer in the fridge.
Notes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
