Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread

Yep, zucchini has not disappeared from your life just yet!  I had a hankerin' to bake something with lemon. Plenty of zucchini was laying around, so I thought, hmmm, lemon zucchini bread? lemon blueberry zucchini bread?  And then I saw this.  Gotta love Pinterest!  I didn't want to use rosemary when I have all this fresh basil, so I decided on Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread.  After a little searching, I saw this, but it was a little more savory than what I had in mind.  So, when I finally got off Pinterest, I went and made this yummy bread!

I also discovered that my new cute little dish doesn't cook all that evenly, but that's a different story.

Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

3 cups flour (I used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 Tbsp minced basil

2 eggs

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using salted butter)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon zest

3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 pound of zucchini)

1 tsp lemon extract

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 4x9-inch loaf pans, either coating with butter or spraying with baking spray.
2 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and basil.
3 Beat the eggs in a mixer (or by hand) until frothy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon extract and grated zucchini.
4 Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.
5 Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.
6 Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pans to cool on a rack.

Notes - This would have made one regular size loaf. I made 2 small ones.  I also had to decrease my baking time, but I'm figuring out that my oven cooks hot! I'm going to have to start decreasing the temp on all my baked items.  The flavor...very good!  I loved the lemon and would have loved more basil. You get just a hint of it in this.

It has nice flecks of green, which my children thought was awful!  Needless to say, I was on my own with this one. I took some to my parents, otherwise I would have eaten IT ALL.  No self control.

I'm kinda sad that my zucchini plants are dead. But a little relieved at the same time. I worked hard to use all that zucchini!

I'm linking this recipe up at Eat at Home (Ingredient Spotlight - Fresh Herbs)