Irene’s zucchini oatmeal raisin bread

Irene is my paternal grandmother, though she prefers “Granny” to “Grandma.” Apparently it makes her feel younger. For a year when I was a child, my family and I lived in Geneva, Switzerland where I attended a private English-speaking school in the Third Grade. I had a Scottish friend in my class who taught me this naughty “Granny” song:

O, you cannot push your Granny off the bus, off the bus!
O, you cannot push your Granny off the bus, off the bus!
O, you cannot push your Granny, ‘cause she’s your father’s mother,
O, you cannot push your Granny off the bus, off the bus!

My whole family loved it and I’ve fond memories of all of us riding down the Swiss highways, belting out the lyrics to a broken but lively tune. We even sang it for Granny when she came to visit from the States. Aah, good stuff!

What I’ve just recently learned is that Granny Irene has a recipe for zucchini oatmeal raisin bread! My sister sent it to me after I asked her for her recipe for zucchini bread (more to come on that soon).

This bread is easy to make and it will make you feel healthy, what with all of the freshly grated Italian zucchini in there.

Irene’s zucchini oatmeal raisin bread

dry ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 cup oats
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

wet ingredients:

3 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
3 cups shredded zucchini (about four medium Italian)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease baking dishes. I used pre-made disposable wax paper formed dishes. Instead of greasing and worrying about removing cake at the end, I simply peeled the paper off like you might for a muffin and discarded the paper once the baking was done. Easy.

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Mix remaining wet ingredients into egg mixture. Fold egg zucchini mixture into the dry ingredients until batter is moist.

Pour batter into your baking dish(s). I made two small loafs and a larger round. Bake 30 to 50 minutes depending on the size of your cake. Remove from oven when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack and enjoy. We had ours over coffee for breakfast. Yum!