The temperature in our house dropped below 80 today to a cool 78 and you know what that means! I can turn on the oven! The candy jar at work hasn't been refilled in weeks and the vending machine is trying to force me to make healthier choices. I am boycotting the grocery story near our house, so my sweet tooth is ready to bite someone's head off. So as soon as we got home from our Wednesday picnic dinner I started a whirlwind of baking. Or, I at least attempted to make two things. First I made granola, which turned out very well. While the granola was cooking, I whipped up some zucchini bread. The granola calls for 4 teaspoons of canola oil, but I was worried that I wouldn't have enough for the zucchini bread, which called for half a cup. So I used olive oil. Then I figured I would have enough canola for the zucchini bread, and if not, I could substitute olive oil, but I prefer not to in that case.
Things got a little hairy while I was mixing the zucchini bread; Dave put Jack down on the floor, he got mad about it and threw himself down and yelled; I could see that the roof of his mouth was entirely white, and I freaked out. "Is he foaming at the mouth? Rabies? Is this a tragedy of biblical proportions? ChokingonhisownvomitOMGJimmyHendrix?" I even briefly thought, "Is the roof of your mouth white? Maybe he's fine! Does anyone know what color the roof of your mouth is?!" But he just had about an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper wadded up in there.
Later, when I was looking in the oven, I knew something was wrong. Did I over mix the eggs? Was it because I forgot to mix in the walnuts, and just sprinkled them on top? Did I use wheat bran instead of wheat germ?
Then I remembered. The oil. I looked at the measuring cup, which was not oily. I looked in the cabinet at the oil. Still looked like it had just about half a cup in it. So I guess I never added that precious, precious oil.
It's actually quite delicious. Must be the moistest zucchini on the planet. I'll have to report tomorrow on whether my fat free zucchini bread is still edible. And no, I am not some crazy health nut that eats zucchini bread instead of candy and cookies. I just don't have any chocolate in the house.
3 comments:
I think the zucchinis are a particularly moist batch this year. I made z bread last night. Checked it at 45 minutes...not done. One hour....not done. 90 minutes, and the edges were starting to look like charcoal, so I pulled it. As soon as I tipped the pan over, the top lopped off. Then the cake came out, with the bottom still stuck to the pan. GOOOOOOEY. I'd send pictures, but it's kind of gross looking. I have not been brave, so I cannot report on the taste.
Yum, that post makes me want to bake - that granola recipe looks great! Sounds like your bread turned out better than my last kitchen mishap - I forgot the eggs in my banana bread (that also involved a tantrum, trying to make dinner and loading the dishwasher at the same time). Side note: Bread without eggs is more like a very sticky pudding in loaf form - not edible!
I always use olive oil for baking. I think it tastes good and adds a richness. My sister-in-law once used canola oil in chocolate chip cookies instead of the butter and let me tell you, that does not work. yuck. and I thought I never met a cookie I didn't like.
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