Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Beginner Cook - Medium Cooking Time - Baked Goods - Desert - Vegetarian

Blueberry season is here and in our house that means Blueberry Zucchini Bread! A friend shared this recipe several years ago and I felt compelled to write about it as no one I speak with seems to have heard of combining blueberries and zucchini in a quick bread. Sure, many have tried Zucchini bread but the addition of blueberries is less common, which is unfortunate because it's fantastic! Everyone who tastes it raves about it. While this recipe doesn't come from my Greek repertoire, I used olive oil instead of canola oil and honey instead of sugar, giving it a more mediterranean feel and healthier composition. The blueberry flavor combined with the texture from the zucchini makes this quick bread a winner.

Ingredients (yields 24 muffins or two large loaves)

• 3 eggs
  
• 1 cup olive oil
  
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups honey
  
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (~ 2 small zucchinis)
  
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
  

Time - 1 hour and 5 minutes

• Preparation - 15 minutes
  
• Baking (350 degrees) - 50 minutes
  

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, olive oil, vanilla, and honey

• In a separate bowl, shred the zucchini

• Add the zucchini to the egg, olive oil, vanilla, and honey mixture
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon

• Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well with a spatula

• Gently fold in the blueberries taking care to keep the blueberries whole

• Lightly grease 2 loaf/muffin pans 
  
• Pour the batter splitting it between the two pans
• Bake 20 minutes for muffins / 50 minutes for a loaf, or until a knife inserted in the center of the muffins/loaves comes out clean
• Once baked, removed from the oven and let cool 20 minutes in the pans

• Once cooled, place the muffins/loaves on a wire rack to cool completely