Lemon Ginger Zucchini Bread

As of late I've had two things on my brain, vegetables, and healthy baking. I have decided that if I'm going healthy this is going to be my extreme favorite of guilty pleasures. Lemon Ginger Zucchinni Bread! It's hearty, and has whole wheat flour in it! As well was candid ginger.

I found it on one of my most favorites of  favorited blogs. 3191milesapart. They the are two lovely ladies who wrote this wonderful book A Year of Mornings and a few other new collaberations. Maria Alexandra Vettese (MAV) and Stephanie Congdon Barnes (SCB). Their blog as well as their books are absolutely beautiful, I would recommend checking them out! Maybe even spending the day looking throughout their blog like I do.

All of these things tie into eachother! The colors, green zucchini, yellow ginger, the brown sugar and whole wheat flour add to it and create a smooth and beautiful brown that really comes out when the bread browns on the top in the oven. Zucchini and Whole wheat = healthy, Lemon = tastey, and Ginger = Laura's favorite accent spice EVER. Combimed together equals the most delicious savory and a little sweet bread loaf I have yet to come across. Bake it. Eat it. Share it. Then freeze it!

I used Whole Wheat Pastry flour instead of Whole Wheat, because whole wheat has a thicker texture, where as the pastry flour is thinner so you'll still get the whole wheat flavor without a grainy texture. I also used the grater on our food processor and found that it was as easy as one, two, three! No cut fingers, and you can avoid the zucchini that can turn to mush when using a hand held grater.

Lemon Ginger Zucchini Bread

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 cup crystalized ginger ( found mine at PCC, I believe you can find it at Trader Joe's too)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a large loaf pan, 9" x 5".

Place grated zucchini in a towel and wring out as much moisture as possible. Cream butter and brown sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, mix to combine, add zucchini.

In separate bowl, mix together flours, baking soda and powder, salt and cinnamon. Toss in crystalized ginger and lemon zest. Make sure the ginger pieces are coated with flour, so they won't stick together.

Add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Fill the prepared pan with the batter.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out cleanly and the loaf is nicely browned on top.

Store bread at room temperature, or slice up and freeze for a nice treat later on!


From: (3191milesapart)

Blueberry Muffins!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and SPRING IS HERE FINALLY!!!!! We've being waiting for so long. It's time to whip out those dresses, skirts, and sandals to go soak up those sunny rays. I was looking through this blog 3191 Miles Apart, which is a absolutely fabulous blog, they have a book based off the blog that started it all, and it's one of my favorite books, full of pictures of course. But not just any pictures, the most fun, inspiring, and relaxing group of pictures I've ever seen. These two women met and had similar styles and decided to post pictures of their mornings each day. The similarities between both pictures each day if fascinating.

Ah-ha! Okiee, back to my point! Blueberry muffins...yum, yum, yum! Actually though, I surprised myself...these are goood! The first day I made them Tuesday, I ate two for breakfast and then two more afterschool... No bueno. At that point I decided it was time for them to go, and I brought them and left them at a friends house. ; ) I was looking through their blog, and I found a good-looking blueberry muffin recipe, and then I was inspired. It required whole wheat flour, which I love whole-heartedly, but I was looking for that lovely white and blueberry speckled muffin tops, so I went on and looked for another recipe. That's when I stumbled across the Smitten Kitchen, and that's when I FOUND IT. BLUEBERRY MUFFINS. I instantly thought blueberry muffins? YUM. It was settled.

I did change a couple things...instead of lemon zest, I used orange zest. I added in 2-4 drops of tangerine oil, as well as a little lemon juice and I added in more blueberries, it got to the point where some of my muffins didn't even have blueberries.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Makes 10 - 12 standard-sized muffins

(Skip the organics if you want! Either way works :) )

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 large organic egg
3/4 cup organic plain yogurt (I used Nancy's Organic)
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2-4 drops tangerine oil Optional!!1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen don't defrost) (I used frozen! Works just fine!)

Topping1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1/2 an orange zest

Preaheat oven to 375℉. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt, juice and oil. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl and mix. Then add half to the batter until combined, mix in last half. JUST MIX UNTIL FLOUR BITS DISAPPEARS. No more than that! Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be thick, which is why an ice cream scoop is a fabulous thing to use when scooping your muffins! You will want the muffin cups to be about 3/4 of the way filled. Toppings! This is when you should put it on! Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar over the top of each muffin, then zest a bit of the orange on top of that on each muffin. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool on rack (or eat instantly!) Yum! Enjoy!