KQ: Day Five

Zucchini Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

Alright, it’s no surprise, I’m a hot mess. It’s not too far off to expect the mess that is me to spill over into my cooking/baking at times. This is an “Honest Mom’s Hot Mess Perspective”… well… Buckle Up Buttercup! It’s gonna be a ROUGH RIDE!

The number one rule of baking (and cooking) is to ALWAYS Mise En Place. Get everything out and premeasured. Be ready. Honestly, I always mise en place when I’m baking, especially when it’s something I haven’t made in a while. My mind was admittedly a little preoccupied today. I kept thinking, “I don’t need the recipe! I’ve made this recipe like thirty times!”… boy was I wrong.

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized zucchini shredded
• 3 average sized bananas – the riper the better
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• star anise – pinch of dusting
• 1 cup cream cheese whipped

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare 10in loaf bread pan with parchment *as seen in photo* and lightly spray with baking spray. Set aside.

Step 2: Wash zucchini and cut ends off, slice in half lengthwise, peel bananas and place in a large mixing bowl.

• 

• 

• 

Step 3: Shred zucchini, this can be done using a large grate cheese grater or a food processor. I used my food processor. Once this is complete, pour shredded pieces out on a tea towel and squeeze out all the moisture from the zucchini. You can discard the liquid.

Step 4: Add shredded zucchini to the bowl with bananas. Using a fork mash the bananas until no large pieces remain. Then mix with the zucchini shreds.

• 

• 

• 

Step 5: Add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and 2 eggs to the mixture. Mix thoroughly. Add vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and using a Microplane, grate fresh star anise into the mixture.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Step 6: Sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda, set aside.

• 

• 

• 

Step 7: Mix 1 egg, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of whipped cream cheese together until smooth.

• 

• 

• 

Step 8: Layer in the bread pan with bread mixture first then the cream cheese filling and the bread mixture on top. Using a fork or butter knife, swirl mixture lightly.

• 

• 

• 

Step 9: Bake in oven at 350*F for 16-18 minutes, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through.

**BONUS STEP** Realize about 5 minutes after you put the pan in the oven that you forgot to add the baking powder and baking soda! Freak Out because you don’t have anymore bananas to make another loaf and reach into the oven to grab the pan out… Then scream every explicative you know because you forgot to grab oven mitts. -_- You’re invested in this… don’t give up! Surely, you can still save it! **Cross your fingers** and add the baking soda and baking powder to it anyway. Mix it up well and place it back in the oven.

In a few minutes, you’ll see the bread start to rise! You did it! It’s rising! Everything will be fine. It’s gonna be great… right? The timer goes off and you reach in **with oven mitts** to remove this beautiful loaf of bread.

You set it down gently and reach for your cooling rack. Lifting the parchment the loaf lifts out of the pan like a dream and just as you sit it down on the cooling rack, you notice… it’s… deflating…?!? WhAt?! *SIGH*

• 

Take a deep breath. It’s not that bad… right? After taking all the photos you possibly can just to get SOMETHING useable… you call in your taste testers.
The kids think it’s just banana bread. The hubs knows it’s zucchini banana bread but he’s skeptical. He’s convinced you would still be able to “taste the zucchini”. Everyone tries it out and within minutes… you’re left with only a couple slices. Mav’s response, ” Well, I’ll be damned! That’s actually pretty good!” The kids have no idea there are veggies in it. Which if I’m being honest is a HUGE win for this house. Getting these two to eat their veggies is like negotiating with terrorists. “So, Mom, if I eat just this little bit of green beans, can I have chicken nuggets?” – Chelsea. I swear that child is made up of chicken nuggets, goldfish, and water!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my journey today. Life is full of ups and downs. Ya gotta make the most of both and keep moving forward. In the end, my family and I enjoyed this loaf even if I did mess it up and it fell. It tasted wonderfully and the texture was perfectly cakey like we like it. So even if it was a fail, it was still a win too.

#WorkHard #StayHumble #NeverthelessPersist