I'm looking for a new zucchini bread recipe, now that the season is upon us...

My recipe just seems to always fail. Instead of the bread or muffins rising and holding their shape, they rise and then cave inwards. I don't know what the problem is. I follow the recipe exactly, and I've tried replacing my baking powder and baking soda in case they were too near their expiration. But still, no luck.

I have had enough failures with this recipe that I want to try something new, something that someone else has tried and been successful with... If you've made some healthy modifications, all the better!

I searched the recipes thread, but nothing popped up.

I usually make a much modified version of Paula Deen's zucchini bread. Her recipe is exactly the same one my grandmother used for years. I use Eggbeaters and applesauce to replace the oil. It also worked well to replace some of the sugar with stevia. I also use freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg, makes all the difference to me and takes an extra 5 seconds with my microplane. I've also added more zucchini (kind of wring it out a bit or it will be too wet), or added raisins or cranberries.

My grandma told me the reason my bread caved was because I mixed it too much. Once you add in the wet ingredients, grandma said you should only stir it a few times, just get the ingredients wet. It should be lumpy, if you mix it until it's smooth it will fall.

INGREDIENTS:
* 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3 cups sugar
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 4 eggs, beaten
* 1/3 cup water
* 2 cups grated zucchini
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

I have not tried this, but it sounds really good and health-ier then most. It's from Mayoclinic.com

Zucchini bread

MAKES 18 SLICES
Ingredients

6 egg whites
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat (whole-meal) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups crushed, unsweetened pineapple
1/2 cup raisins
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the egg whites, canola oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed until thick and foamy.

In a small bowl, stir together the flours. Set 1/2 cup aside. Add the baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon to the small bowl of flour.

Add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture and using the electric mixer on medium speed, beat until well blended. Add the zucchini, walnuts, pineapple and raisins and stir until combined. Adjust consistency of the batter with the remaining 1/2 cup flour, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. The batter should be thick and not runny.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into each prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the loaves out of the pans onto the rack and let cool completely. Cut each loaf into 9 1-inch slices and serve.
Nutritional Analysis
(per serving)
Serving size: 1 slice
Calories 173 Cholesterol 0 mg
Protein 4 g Sodium 104 mg
Carbohydrate 25 g Fiber 2 g
Total fat 5 g Potassium 173 mg
Saturated fat 0.5 g Calcium 24 mg
Monounsaturated fat 2 g

Thanks, ladies! I found a third recipe on the internet that had good reviews, so I guess I know what I'll be doing the next 3 weeks -- trying all 3 recipes!

Interesting about why the bread caves, Bacilli. I've been using my mixer to make the bread; I guess I'll mix these next 3 batches up by hand (less clean up that way, too!) and hopefully that will fix the problem... Luckily, my boys eat the zucchini bread, no matter what.

I'm really glad I could share her wisdom. She was full of it, wisdom that is!

I would love to know how the recipes turn out. Please keep us updated. I'm especially curious about the one from Mayo Clinic, with that nice low fat content.

I've tried several of the Mayo Clinic recipes, not a single one has been bad.

I made Bacilli's Zucchini Bread, with slight modifications:

• 1/2 cup canola oil & 1/2 cup applesauce instead of vegetable oil
• no nuts; my kids don't like them in bread
• convection oven at 340

It was wonderful. The only problem I had was getting it out of the pan. For all my life, I've used shortening to grease the pan, and things have come out, no problem. I used the oil spray, and I wiped it around in there with a napkin, but the bread stuck in both of the pans. The kids were in hysterics while I was banging on the pans to get the bread out. They suggested that I get the maul.

Once they popped out, they were wonderful. I should get some mini-loaf pans; they would help with portion control. As it is, we've devoured half of one loaf with lunch.

I'll try the Mayo Clinic recipe next, although I'm pretty sure I'll be going back to my old methods of greasing the pan...

Thanks for the update. Sounds good and I like your applesauce adjustment. I'm wondering if 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup canola oil would yield as yummy a result.

Maybe along with cooking spray you could have sprinkled the pan with a little flour to help it along. I also find that letting cakes cool completely makes getting them out easier. Unless of course you're wanting to eat it warm.

Mini-cupcake pans are a great way to go for portion control. Or even regular ones. There's something about NOT starting a whole other cupcake that makes it easier to resist. Otherwise you can keep chipping and chipping away at a cake or loaf - and before you know it - it's 1/2 or more eaten.

But quite honestly, for me, I'm best off with not baking at all - store bought stuff - fairly simple to avoid - home baked goods - oy. Very hard to resist.

And let us know how the next recipe turns out. Thanks.

Line your pans with strips of wax paper and it'll be easier to get the loaves out. I use parchment paper sometimes too.

I make it with all applesauce and no oil, it's good, not dry at all.

Parchment paper is awesome for getting stuff out of pans. So are the silicone pans, that's what I have now, and I love them. A tad more expensive as you replace metal with silicone, but worth it in my opinion.

Good to know about the applesauce. Now that I think of it, I actually have a friend who always replaces all of the oil with an equal amount of applesauce and she says everything comes out moist and yummy. She also always replaces 1 whole egg with 2 egg whites. And yes, I forgot about Parchment paper. That stuff is fabulous for baking.