Zucchini Sweet Potato Quick Bread

I got a great deal on zucchini yesterday (2 pounds for a dollar!) but then I realized that we had no gas for the grill and that is typically how I love to cook them. Damn. I also had some sweet potatoes getting on in age since I had no gas to grill my favorite sandwich. Google, here I come... and the results I came back with were perfect: a zucchini/sweet potato quick bread from Joy the Baker.

I made a few mini loaves and a few mini muffins because those are easier to feed little mouths. And boy were they a hit! All 3 girls loved them (as did I).

Here is the recipe and a few of my own tips on quick breads:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
3 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup grated zucchini
1 1/2 cup peeled and grated sweet potato
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or you may use nuts or dried fruit here)

2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon or nutmeg or a mixture of both to line pan with.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan or muffin tins or 3 mini loaf pans. As you grease and flour the pan, I add my sugar cinnamon mixture here and sprinkle it around the pan. This adds an added zip to the edges of the bread. Mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate, large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, apple sauce, sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in the zucchini and sweet potato. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes for larger loaf. Approximately 1/2 hour for mini loaves, approx. 15 minutes for mini muffins.

A few quick bread tips from Michele:

I add sour cream to all of my quick bread recipes, it makes my breads super moist even after freezing and thawing after a few weeks. It has not failed me yet.

The sugar/cinnamon lining for the pan is a great idea for all bread too. You can switch up the spices depending on the bread (say pumpkin pie spice for pumpkin bread) and it is just that subtle extra yum.

Quick breads freeze very well. It is a great snack to make ahead and freeze in quantities so that you have a snack on hand for hungry kids or unexpected guests.

Book mark this recipe because, if you are anything like me, you are going to have a ton of zucchini from your garden in the next couple of months. Let me know if you make it and if you love it like I did.

Oh, I wanted a photo of someone eating the bread to prove how yummy it was... not one of our best photo ops though...