My favorite Zucchini Bread recipe

In the spring my sweet neighbor Marye offered to help me start a garden. She even provided the seeds. Thanks Marye :) We planted red and white onions, sugar snap peas, and corn. It turns out that my kids LOVE the garden! In the beginning they would check on it EVERY day. Then they would go out several times a day to eat the sugar snap peas, yum! Because of the success (and fun) we were having, my kids and I decided to add more to our garden. We went to the Lindon Nursery (which is worth the drive) and picked up some more corn, zucchini and spaghetti squash plants. Everything is growing like crazy! I guess our clay soil is good for something.

The other day Marye showed me this HUGE zucchini that she grew. I told her that I have THE best recipe for zucchini bread. Since then I have been craving this bread. I've been checking on our zucchini every day to see if it is ready. So for those of you that have zucchini in your garden or when your neighbor offers you some you really need to try this recipe.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1 C oil

2 1/2 C white sugar

3 t vanilla

1 1/2 t salt

1 t baking soda

1/4 t cloves

1/4 t nutmeg

1 T cinnamon

3 C flour

2 C grated raw zucchini

1 C chopped nuts, optional

Combine sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Blend well. Add zucchini and nuts. Pour into greased loaf pans, 2 large or 4 small. Bake at 325 degrees for an hour (or more) for large loaves, 50 minutes for small loaves.

Topping:

Make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. I don't really measure this. Maybe 1 C of sugar to 1/4 C of cinnamon. Brush the warm loaves with melted butter then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. I am VERY generous with this mixture. Remove from pans after 20 minutes of cooling. Enjoy!