T his linky party is the perfect place to show off your creativity! Share your blog posts, for a chance to be featured next month! WELCOME to the August 2022 " You're the Star " Blog Hop! Before we continue onto the Linky party I wanted to share from my blog: Keep cool during these last few weeks of summer with my delicious 3-Ingredient No Churn Ice Cream ! ___________________________ WELCOME to HOME feature week of the August 2022 " You're the STAR " blog hop! Meet your HOME week Hosts This week is HOME feature week Swing by the Home Hosts' Blogs: Bev from Eclectic Red Barn Cindy from Mom, the Lunch Lady Niki from Life as a LEO Wife This is a month long Linky party featuring YOU! There will be 4 different features each week and 4 different feature categories. Just to be clear - this is NOT a themed party - you may link up ANY family-friendly blog posts any day of each month. The "theme" occurs in our weekly features:
Turn a favourite summer vegetable, into a family favourite treat! You'll love the spices in this loaf, that is sweetened with maple syrup and studded with fresh wild blueberries.
Last summer was our first attempt at growing our own vegetables. Having moved, our new yard was a blank canvas, to make little gardens along one of the fences. In our old yard, we had extensive flower beds that contained tiger lillies and other plants, so gardening was not possible. So both my SO and I jumped at the chance to grow some veggies in our new yard.
One of the veggies we decided to grow was zucchini. I had to help them along a bit at first, since the female flowers weren't getting pollinated. After a reluctant start, the zucchini became abundant and we were left trying to figure out ways to use it.
I've always enjoyed zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting, but wanted something different. That's when I decided to create a loaf, with a streusel topping. I love making loaves, because they are a delicious quick snack, when hunger strikes during the day. I wanted it to be a bit more "healthy", so I sweetened the loaf with maple syrup and cut the oil, by adding plain fat free yogurt. I also had blueberries that weren't looking their greatest, so I decided to throw them in for an extra burst of sweetness.
The beautiful dark green skin on zucchini is very tender, so there is no need to peel the zucchini before using it. I simply give it a good wash and cut off the ends before grating them with my box grater.
Should I squeeze the moisture out of my zucchini, before making zucchini bread?
I have never squeezed the liquid out of my zucchini when making zucchini bread. I know some people like to, but if you don't it will not affect this recipe at all. However, if you decide to use frozen grated zucchini, I would let it thaw completely and then squeeze a fair amount of the liquid from it.
Can I freeze zucchini cake?
Like other sweet breads such as banana bread, you can freeze zucchini loaf. Simply double wrap (once completely cooled) in plastic wrap, to make sure it is air tight. I also like to place my loaves in a zip top bag, before placing them in the freezer (if they aren't too big). Zucchini loaf can be frozen for up to 60 days.
How do I make zucchini cake?
Start by grating your zucchini, by using the large side of a box grater.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, yogurt, sweeteners, eggs and vanilla. Stir the zucchini into the wet mixture.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until almost completely mixed. Add the blueberries and gently fold them into the batter, making sure not to over mix. Fill your greased loaf pans to 2/3 full.
In a third bowl combine the streusel ingredients, until mixture resembles coarse sand. Sprinkle evenly over batter in loaf pans, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.
PIN IT!!
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Equipement needed for this recipe
- box grater
- 3 mixing bowls
- measuring cups for both liquid and solid measures
- measuring spoons
- loaf pans
- spatula
- whisk
Maple Blueberry Zucchini Loaf
1/4 C sunflower oil
1/3 C brown sugar
1/3 C maple syrup
2 eggs
1/2 C plain yogurt
2 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C zucchini, shredded
1 C fresh blueberries
Streusel Topping
3 Tbs butter
1/4 C flour
1/4 C brown sugar
3 Tbs quick cooking oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper (if desired).
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, maple syrup, eggs, yogurt and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini.
In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just about combined.
Gently fold in the blueberries; until just combined (do not over mix). Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
In a third bowl, combine the streusel ingredients, and mix until they resemble coarse sand. Sprinkle topping, evenly onto the batter in the loaf pan. Bake for 55- 60 minutes; until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I am sharing this recipe with these Linky Parties!
We grow zucchini every year so I never have too many zucchini recipes. I'm saving this one! It looks delicious with the blueberries and maple.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using vegetables in a dessert and what better way to use an abundance of squash. Delish ideas with the addition of the blueberries. Pinned this for later.
ReplyDeleteI love all the flavors of this maple blueberry zucchini loaf! What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea...love the flavours in this loaf. I'm glad past me had the foresight to grate up and freeze bags of zucchini for baking!
ReplyDeleteDelicious! Love having zucchini bread year round and the blueberries in this one make this a keeper recipe!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like some great flavors! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party. I hope we see you tomorrow too!! Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteYum! I subbed coconut sugar for the brown sugar but used all of the other ingredients as listed. It was fab and will be on repeat all zucchini season. Thanks!
ReplyDelete