This zucchini banana bread is moist and delicious. Extra-virgin olive oil and Greek yogurt give it extra richness, and with both a fruit and a vegetable in there, you can feel good about eating it! Perfect as a snack or part of breakfast, this bread is satisfying without being heavy, and it’s full of cinnamon and vanilla flavor. Your kitchen will smell so comforting and good while it is baking!
When I am trying to figure out what to make for myself and my family, often necessity is my best guide. Because I needed to use a zucchini, and because my husband and I accidentally both bought bananas on the same day, I made this great bread that I will definitely make again! Though I have made zucchini bread and banana bread separately many times, those two ingredients are a great combination. I am especially pleased with this recipe, because the moistness seems just right. I have had zucchini breads that are too dry or too oily, but this one tastes very well-balanced. The recipe is a combination of lots of different recipes I have used over the years, and it is definitely a keeper.
This is the time of year when zucchini starts to roll in around here, and I feel like it is one of the vegetables most frequently given away. It seems like someone is always passing out zucchini, and I am happy to use it! With a break in the heat wave, I finally felt like turning on my oven to bake. This bread makes a great gift, and it freezes really well too.
I woke up this morning to the sound of soft rain and distant thunder. It has been a long time since we have had rain in the morning, it seems. I am sure the parched earth is enjoying it. It definitely puts one in a more contemplative state of mind. Our daughter is away at cross country camp for a few days, and though I know she is having lots of fun, I miss her. Our son is getting lots of attention though. 🙂 I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, whether in the rain or the sunshine! Though I’m a bit late to Fiesta Friday, I am joining the great bloggers there, co-hosted this week by Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Petra @ Food Eat Love.
Zucchini Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of unbleached, all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup of brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup of white sugar
- 1/2 cup of plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup of good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup of grated zucchini
- 1 cup of mashed banana (about 2 bananas)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another large mixing bowl, first stir the eggs vigorously with a fork. Then add the sugars, Greek yogurt, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir again (with a fork or whisk) to thoroughly combine. Hold the cup with the grated zucchini over the sink and gently squeeze the excess water out of the zucchini. Add the grated zucchini and mashed banana to the egg mixture and stir with a spoon to combine.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Then pour the batter into the two prepared loaf pans, distributing as evenly as possible.
Bake in your 350 degree F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the center springs back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (or with a couple crumbs attached–just not with wet batter). Let the bread cool before removing from the pans. Enjoy!
With the outdoor temperature around here soaring this week, a cold soup is a perfect addition to any meal. And it is so easy to make–just put the ingredients in a blender and blend! Then pour it into a container and let it chill! This recipe is adapted from my husband’s favorite cookbook, Thrive Energy Cookbook by Brendan Brazier. It is a plant-based, vegan recipe–great for building up the immune system and recharging the body with lots of wonderful nutrients. If you don’t like coconut milk, you can always substitute Greek yogurt to get the creamy texture without the subtle coconut taste. I have gotten so I really like the coconut milk taste, and it feels good to have an alternative to dairy sometimes, though I still love my cheese and yogurt.
Summer is fully, completely here. We went swimming at a nearby lake last weekend. Before we left for home, I went into the bathroom there to change out of my wet bathing suit. The changing room had an open-air courtyard and curtains across the individual changing stalls. The wind came in through the open ceiling and was lightly blowing the curtains, not enough to compromise anyone’s privacy, but enough that the curtains were billowing gently in the breeze, creating a hushed, peaceful atmosphere. It was such a serene setting, with the sun shining through the leaves in the open-air ceiling, and the curtains quietly flowing with the breeze. Women from all walks of life were going in and out, and everyone was so peaceful and refreshed after cooling off in the lake. I never expected to find this lovely setting in a public bathroom at a state park. It was a quiet oasis in the middle of a busy crowd, like time was standing still for a few minutes.
The lavender in our garden is thriving. I’m kind of surprised, considering how hot and dry this past month has been, but I am happy to see it. It is gorgeous and it smells so good! I’ve been wanting to use it in some way, and then recently I came across a post by Laurie, of the blog 
At the same time that I have been wanting to use my lavender, I have been wanting to bake with fresh berries–the blueberries that are in season now, and the black raspberries growing wild all over my yard. So I made this lovely berry breakfast cake, sweetened with my own homemade lavender sugar. It is so delicious and festive for a summer breakfast! The breakfast cake recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Hollyhocks & Radishes by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson. The only thing I changed was that I used a combination of blueberries and black raspberries, and I used lavender sugar instead of traditional white sugar, and butter from grass-fed cows instead of vegetable shortening. I am very happy with the result! The lavender sugar is not essential in this recipe–if you don’t have extra time, conventional sugar can be used just fine, and any kind of fresh berries would work.
The Hollyhocks & Radishes cookbook is such a gentle reminder of the beauty in using the food growing around us, and also the simple elegance of hospitality. Such a simple gesture as making a cake or a salad or a plate of sandwiches for others can be so satisfying to both the giver and the receivers. We have had the opportunity to extend some old-fashioned hospitality to a variety of people this past week, and it has been so much fun to get together with old friends who now live far away, and to have friends of our kids in our house and around our table.
Life can get very fast-paced and over-scheduled these days, and it’s so nice to slow down sometimes to cook and bake, to pick lavender and make lavender sugar, or spend the whole afternoon at a nearby lake. To eat breakfast on the porch or a picnic dinner at a park, and let the dinner and conversation last till dark. Sometimes it takes guests and hospitality to make us slow down, and what would we do without it. We need to do more of it.
I hope you all have a great weekend! It is mid-summer, and feels every bit of it to me. I look forward to checking out some new recipes at Angie’s 
