The Paper Blog Princess: Zucchini Bread

Summer
A time for sun, water, refreshing beverages, and...vegetables.

I know what you're thinking: "But, whatever shall I do with my surplus of delicious, fresh summer greens?"
Well, I'm glad you asked. If you've got some spare zucchini laying around, you may want to try out this lovely recipe for some delicious Zucchini Bread! It's simple, quick, and mighty tasty.

What You Will need:

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

First, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and grease your baking pans. Ideally you would have two 8x4 inch baking pans, but, if you're like me and don't have two same-sized baking pans, you can just grease whatever you have. (I used one 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in and one 7 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. Don't ask why we only had those sizes; my kitchen is sometimes a mystery to me.)

*Note: If you do use differently sized pans, be sure to check the smaller one first because it will cook faster.

Next, grate your zucchini:

Two cups equals about two medium-sized zucchinis, but measure after you've grated your first one so you don't needlessly grate an extra zucchini! And now here comes the secret, the key to delicious, not disastrous, zucchini bread:

Squeeze out the excess water!

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients EXCEPT the sugar. In your mixer, beat the eggs until frothy, then mix in the oil and sugar. Add the zucchini and vanilla.

With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, doing your best to not make a huge mess on the counter. The batter should now look like this:

Pour it into your pan...

...and pop your pans in the oven!

All that's left is to wait, trembling with excitement and anticipation, for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.