Cookies 'n Cream Zucchini Bread

This yummy recipe ends zucchini week. 

Thanks Carol,  it's always a pleasure to have you guest post.

                                              Cookies 'n Cream Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread. I love it...and not just regular-sort-of-like-banana-bread-zucchini bread. That's delicious for sure. What I'm talkin' about is over the top zucchini bread-something you don't find everywhere.

I started playing around with creating zucchini bread and muffin recipes a few years ago. So far, I've come up with over 20 recipes.  Where do I get my flavor ideas? From everywhere-even the ice cream aisle at the grocery store.

Cookies 'n Cream ice cream is a favorite in this house...so why not turn that flavor into a zucchini bread?

This is an easy one to put together.  I've seen Cookies 'n Cream instant pudding mix at Super Walmart, but never bought it.  I had white chocolate instant pudding in the cabinet, so decided to use that instead of vanilla. Trust me, either flavor pudding works great. 

Rather than get a whole package of Oreo's at the store, then have them sitting on the counter taunting me because I didn't use the whole thing up, I decided to grab a bag of the bite-size Oreos for the bread.  Perfect-it gave me just the amount I needed-a scant 2 cups of crumbs when crushed. I put the cookies in a resealable plastic bag and took out my frustration on them with my French rolling pin. You can certainly get the job done quickly by pulsing them a few times in a food processor.  I added a heaping cupful of the crumbs to the batter and saved the rest to sprinkle over the top of each loaf before baking.  After sprinkling on the crumbs, I lightly pressed them into the batter. I thought that would give them a better chance of adhering to the top of the loaf while it baked.

Boy oh boy, is this delicious. The crushed cookies added the perfect "crunch" to the soft bread. If you're a lover of cookies 'n cream, I really think you're gonna enjoy this bread. It really does sort of taste like the ice cream!
It doesn't look like the zucchini plants are slowing down much in the garden, so I'll guess I'd better keep my thinking cap on and come up with more bread and muffin ideas soon.

Thanks so much for having me as a guest poster this week and letting me share some of my favorite zucchini recipes with your readers, Linda.  It's always fun to come by and share a recipe or three! :)

Carol 


COOKIES 'N CREAM ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 large eggs
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 c. canola OR vegetable oil
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 c. unpeeled, shredded zucchini
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 (4 serving size) pkg. white chocolate instant pudding mix
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 (8 oz.) pkg. mini chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed OR 2 c. coarsely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 2 (9x5-inch) OR 5 (5x3-inch) loaf pans; set aside.

Shred zucchini using on the large whole side of a box grater. Place the shredded zucchini in a mesh strainer to drain; set aside while assembling the other ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla extract until well blended.

Gently squeeze any excess moisture out of the shredded zucchini, then stir it into the egg mixture.

In a medium bowl. whisk together the flour, pudding mix, salt, baking soda, baking powder and 1 generous cup of the cookie crumbs. Add the flour mixture to the egg/zucchini mixture and stir just until combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Sprinkle the top of each loaf liberally with the remaining cookie crumbs. Press the crumbs down lightly to adhere them to the batter. Bake @ 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes for the large loaves and 35-40 minutes for the smaller loaves, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


Let breads cool in pans on wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove them from the pans to a wire rack and cool completely, Makes 2 large or 5 small loaves.

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