Zucchini Gingerbread

Why not take a classic and make it seasonal?  Because who doesn’t like the flavor of gingerbread?  And who doesn’t like the odd chewy bit of candied ginger?

(Okay, you won’t see the candied ginger in the loaf above because I forgot to stir it in.  I had a truckload of the crystallized stuff and totally gapped on it when the moment was right in the baking process.  The good news is that I like to snack on it like it’s going out of style, so it didn’t go to waste, but still.)

Adapted from my Zucchini Bread recipe…

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (fresh, if possible)

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil (canola works well)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup light brown sugar (packed)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

3/4 cups candied ginger, chopped

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325°, and grease two 8 x 4 ” loaf pans.
2. In a medium bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking powder, soda, and nutmeg together.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil, both sugars and vanilla together.  Add dry sifted ingredients to the wet mixture, and beat well.  Stir in zucchini, candied ginger and nuts (if using) until well combined.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake for about 50 minutes (checking after 40), or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean of crumbs.  Cool in loaf pans on a rack for about 15 minutes, then remove bread from pans to finish cooling.

Tips:

• Want more gingerbread?  Try the Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Glaze, Gingerbread Muffins with Coffee Glaze, or of course the Ginger Chewy Cookies.  Yeah, the cookies for sure.
• Try a glaze… mix a bit of confectioners’ sugar with milk and spread it over the top of the loaves.  Yum.
• Make muffins by baking for 20 minutes or so in a muffin tin.
• These freeze well, so do what I do and pre-portion slices into little bags so you can thaw and eat when the urge strikes.
• Enjoy!

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