Best Zucchini Bread Recipe in the Galaxy

Healthy and Delicious Zuchinni Muffin Recipe

Oh, hi! I’m Dondi, and you can usually find me and my work over at I Heart Intelligence and Unified Soul Theory. I live and work as a freelance writer and for an awesome community non-profit in gorgeous Fort Collins, Colorado, and I’m a cyclist, rock climber and general outdoor enthusiast. I’m thrilled to be here today to share my recipe for the best zucchini bread and muffins you’ve ever tasted.

 

First, a confession: the original recipe for this amazing bread is not one I can claim of my own. It comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction, my all-time favorite baking blog, and you can find the original recipe here.

 

I have a serious sweet tooth and, as a commuter cyclist who travels everywhere by bike, I really appreciate treats that taste delicious and travel well zipped into the pocket of one of my panniers. So when I first made this recipe I nearly lost my mind. The flavors were incredible: the butter! The brown sugar! The cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla! The melty chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts and the streusel…oh the streusel…

 

Clearly I could wax poetic about this for hours. I probably have. I especially love that the recipe is for zucchini bread or muffins: there are vegetables in its title. Obviously, it must be good for me, right?

Best Ever Zuchinni Bread Recipe @savedbyloves

Unfortunately, while this recipe does have a whopping cup of zucchini in it (and I often add more), it also has a fair amount of butter and sugar and oil and therefore a whopping number of calories. So I made a few changes: I subbed half the oil for applesauce and part of the flour for ground flaxseed. I found that when I was making it, I always had a TON of streusel topping, so I started halving the amount of topping I made for each recipe. This sounds like baking blasphemy, I know, especially as one of Sally’s mandates on her blog is “more streusel!”, but I found that using half the amount was more than enough to get all of the incredible flavors with fewer calories and less fat. It’s the best of all worlds.

 

Both the bread and the muffins (I mostly make the muffins) keep nicely, covered at room temperature for up to five days. They also freeze really, really well. If I make these muffins and don’t freeze them I will eat way too many immediately, so I freeze most of the batch and then just grab them from my freezer as needed and toss them into my pannier to take with me wherever I’m going. By the time they thaw it’s like they were never frozen. For folks who don’t bike everywhere, they thaw just fine out on the countertop for an hour or so too, or you can warm them on low in an oven for 10-15 minutes. This recipe is also wonderfully scalable: I’ve doubled, tripled and even quadrupled it with no problems whatsoever.

 

Streusel Topping:

-⅓ cup rolled oats

-¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

-¼ teaspoon cinnamon

-1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

-⅛ cup butter (2 tablespoons), very cold

 

Zucchini Bread:

-1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

-¼ cup ground flaxseed

-½ teaspoon salt

-¾ teaspoon baking powder

-½ teaspoon baking soda

-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

-⅛ to ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, to taste

-¼ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

-¼ cup white chocolate chips (optional)

-½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

-½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

-½ cup white sugar

-¼ cup oil (I use canola but use whatever mildly flavored oil you like!)

-¼ cup applesauce

-1 cup grated zucchini*

-1 egg, beaten

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

To Make:

 

For Bread: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or nonstick-spray a loaf pan or line with parchment paper and set aside. For Muffins: Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease or nonstick-spray a 12-count muffin tin or line cups with paper liners and set aside.

 

-Streusel Topping(make this first!):

Combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour together in a medium-sized bowl until well-mixed and no brown sugar lumps remain. Cut the butter into tiny pieces (I actually grate it on the large holes of a box or hand grater) and combine with dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, two knives or just your fingers. You want a loose crumby structure, and if the mix or the butter gets too warm it’s easy to overmix. It’s still usable in this form, but more difficult to work with, so try to keep it loose, but well-combined. Set aside (I put it in the fridge.)

 

-Muffins:

Toss together flour, flaxseed, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl until well combined. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts, if using. Set aside.

 

Stir together brown sugar, white sugar, oil, and applesauce in a medium bowl until well-combined. Add in the zucchini and mix well. Add in the egg and vanilla and give a good stir until everything is well-combined. No need to over-stir.

 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix and stir to combine. I try to stir this mixture as little as possible, just until no flour remains. This keeps it from getting tough.

Best Ever Zuchinni Muffin Recipe FB @savedbyloves

 

For bread: Pour into prepared loaf pan, then bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and add streusel topping, pressing the topping evenly into the top of the bread. You’re adding this after baking 20 minutes so that the streusel doesn’t sink down into the batter. Return it to the oven and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes. You can cover the bread loosely with foil to keep it from browning too much. It’s done when a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the bread cool for at least an hour in the pan set on a wire rack before cutting and serving. (This may be the hardest hour of your life.)

 

For muffins: Oven should be preheated to 425. Fill cups with batter almost all the way to the top. Sally’s recipe notes that this makes 10 muffins but it easily fills all 12 cups every time I make these. Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over each cup, then bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. After five minutes, turn down the oven temperature to 350. Bake at 350 for an additional 14-15 minutes or until done (a test toothpick into one or two should come out clean, though they are so reliably done at 14-15 minutes I don’t even check them). Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then pop out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

 

*Zucchini is a really watery vegetable. To keep it from watering down your muffins, grate the zucchini onto a few layers of paper towels or a clean dry kitchen towel and squeeze as much water from it as you can. You’ll be amazed how much water you squeeze out!

Best Ever Zuchinni Muffin Recipe @savedbyloves copy

DIY Industrial Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table

DIY fence board coffee table WM

We needed a coffee table, and I found the perfect-ish plan on Ana White’s website. I used her Factory Cart Coffee Table Plan, with some size adjustments that I will explain. I wanted my table longer and not as wide as hers. You will also learn how to make the less expensive casters with plastic wheels look like the more expensive versions with some spray paint. This project cost less than $50!

DIY Industrial Coffee Table Woodworking Plans @savedbyloves

I am in love with how the table came out. So, where Ana’s plan shows 23.5 inches, I used 23 inches. Where she used 44 inches, I used 49 inches, and where she used 45.5, I used 51.5.

DIY Coffee Table Woodworking Plans

For the top planks, I used 1×4 cedar fence planks I found on craigslist for free! 14 of them fit in the frame I made, with a tiny gap (less than 1/8 inch) in between each plank. I eyeballed the space. You could use a wood shim, or some other uniform object that is the same width as your desired space.

Kreg jig pocket holes

This shows the 4 support 1×2 boards, and how I attached the 1×6 23 inch boards using Kreg jig pocket holes.

Minwax Wood Conditioner

I attached the top planks to the supports below using my Ryobi Cordless Air Nailer and 2 inch nails. This nailer is a life saver and second only to my Kreg jig in terms of my favorite tools!

I filled the nail holes and any other defects with wood puddy and let that dry over night. I then sanded the table down with my orbital sander and applied Minwax Wood Conditioner. I love to use this before staining, particularly in projects with a combo of new and old wood like this one. It makes the wood take the stain beautifully and evenly. So glad I used it here!

Classic Grey Minwax Wood Stain

After the wood conditioner penetrated for 15 minutes, I stained the piece with my current favorite color, Minwax Classic Grey. This post is not sponsored by Minwax, btw! I just love their wood finishing products!

DIY fence board coffee table WM

I sealed the piece with Minwax Satin Polyurethane, three coats, per the instructions on the can.

Spray Paint Wheels on Casters

I couldn’t find the exact casters  I wanted, so I bought these 5 inch diameter casters with grey rubber wheels. I removed the wheels from the metal bracket and spray painted them with Krylon Dual in Black Hammered. It bonds to plastic and requires no primer. Just my kind of spray paint!

free Woodworking plans WM

I love the warm tone of the cedar with the Classic Grey stain!

DIY reclaimed wood industrial coffee table WM

This is just what I wanted for the space. So happy with the result, and the low cost was a bonus.

DIY Industrial Coffee Table Woodworking Plans FB @savedbyloves

Let me know if you have questions!

How to Build a Dog Feeding Station

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DAP Products Inc. for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

How to Build a Dog Feeding Station

Today you get free woodworking plans and distressed painting instructions to build this custom dog feeding station. All of the wood in this project was scored in the Craigslist free section. I literally stalk this section daily, which has paid off in spades over the years!

Saint Bernarnd Puppy

This project is for our friend’s irresistibly adorable Saint Bernard puppy, Willy (above). You can easily adjust the height to fit your animal just right. This was my first time using DAP® RapidFuse™ Wood Adhesive, which I am excited about for many reasons. You will be too! Let’s get started.

Tools and Materials list:

Identical food and water bowls (They don’t have to be the same size as ours, but need to fit in the space                               dictated by the width of the wood you are using for the top).

DAP® RapidFuse™ Wood Adhesive

¾ inch finished-one-side plywood – 10 feet

Kreg Jig and 1.5 inch Kreg screws

1.5 inch x 0.25 inch trim strips (Or desired wood for trim)

Glue, Pencil, paper, Scissors

Table saw and Jig Saw

Nail gun

Drill

Craigslist free section gave us a section of ¾ quarter inch finished plywood in perfect shape. The piece was dry, flat, hole-free, and large enough to cut out all the pieces.

  1. The first thing to do is to build the basic box using the ¾ plywood. Here are the dimension for each piece:

(2 Pieces) Front/Back – 12” x 23”

(2 Pieces) Sides – 12” x 12”

(1 Piece) Top – 12” x 21.5”

  1. Cut Bowl opening in Top.

Willy’s bowls were the stainless steel, slightly tapered ones with a little ¼ inch lip around the top edge. The trick is to cut the opening so that it is large enough that the bowl slips all the way down in but small enough that it catches the lip of the bowl. Seems simple but because of the slight taper it is a little tricky. Here’s the way I found easiest.

Woodworking project plansGet the bowl into position. For mine each bowl opening ended up being 3.25 inches apart in the center and 7.5 inches in diameter. You can set them however you want visually. Once in place, trace a line around the upside down bowls.

Drill hole for Jig Saw

Use your drill and drill a hole inside the circle large enough for your jig saw blade to pass through.

Insert Jigsaw blade

Using your jig saw cut out the circle you traced on to the top. The trick is to cut the opening so that it is large enough that the bowl slips all the way down in but small enough that it catches the lip of the bowl. If you prefer not to eyeball it, draw a circle inside the traced circle. If you’re like me, I had to do a little finishing touch with the saw and the sandpaper, in order to get the bowls to sit down nicely in the hole. BE CAREFUL don’t get happy with the cutting and make the hole too big. You don’t want the bowl to fall through!

  1. Drill Kreg holes into each piece as follows:

          TopKreg Hole Placement for Top Piece
                                                                                  SidesKreg Hole Placement for sides of holder

Use Kreg Jig to Join Wood

For more info on using this jig, see my previous post: How to Make a Pallet Sign Using a Kreg Jig

  1. Assembly – Time to put it all together and talk about wood glue!

Wood Glue Tips

I had the opportunity to try out DAP® RapidFuse™ Wood Adhesive, and I won’t go back to other wood glues! After just 30 minutes, you can plane, sand and stain wood. No more waiting 24 hours. No more not being able to stain. The stuff is also water resistant, so it’s great for indoor and outdoor projects. The joint is stronger than with yellow glue or polyurethane glue, and doesn’t swell, shrink or crack! There is no other glue like it. Seriously.

Wood Glue Application

Apply a line of glue on the side piece.

Attach with Kreg Jig

Attach the side pieces to the front piece first using the 1.5 inch Kreg screws.

Next, attach the TOP piece so that it sits inside the sides and flush with the top edge of the front piece. Also attach the top to the side pieces.

Lastly, attach the back piece in the same way you did the front piece.
Attach top last

Now you have a box that is extra sturdy, with a recessed top that has holes in it to sit the bowls.

Attach Mitered Trim

    1. Trim – We decided to cut mitered trim pieces around the perimeter of the Top to cover the little seam and just add a little “finished” look. It’s totally optional. We make our own trim board by using the table saw with the fence set to about ¼ inch and then we rip 1.5 wide boards. You can buy trim board already cut if you prefer. We also mitered the corners but you can butt them if you don’t have confidence in your mitering skill. Just do it like you’re cutting a picture frame and attach it to the box with glue and then small brads in the nail gun.

Sand edgesBefore painting, sand any uneven areas.How to Chalk Paint Distress Wood

    1. Paint – We wanted a distressed look, and decided to go with a stained top, painted bottom. This is a super easy paint distressing technique that you can apply to any project.

Stain top

I stained the top with Wood Finishing Cloths. These are super convenient as they aren’t as messy as using stain from a can, and they contain sealant!

Dry Brush for DIY Weathered Wood Finish
Tape off the top (pictured below). Apply your first base coat color randomly on all sides. This is fun because you paint in every which way, quickly and messily!

Dry Brush on Second Color

Once the first color is dry, apply the second color in the same fashion. I realized at this point I needed to tape off the top so I wouldn’t get paint on the stained area.

Apply Final Paint Color with Wooden Block

A block of wood is a great tool for creating a chippy paint look. You can use a piece of scrap wood, or this fancy distressing tool with a handle. Just get a glob of paint on the wood, and drag it across your surface, repeating until you are happy with the result.

Create Stencil with Cricut and Paint Name

Finally, I created a stencil with my cricut machine and cut it out of white contact paper. I used a dark gray/black chalk paint for this part, applying it with a paint dauber.

DIY Dog Feeding Station Tutorial

Seal as desired and you are finished!

How to Make a Dog Feeding Station FB

Thanks to DAP for the great new woodworking product. I will be keeping up with them here: DAP Facebook, and for sure using RapidFuse in my future builds!

Visit Sponsors Site

Over 75 DIY Handmade Father’s Day Gift Tutorials

75 DIY gifts for Father's DayMother’s Day has come and gone, and Father’s Day will be here in a heartbeat. Nothing is so cherished as a handmade gift, so we have gathered over 75 handmade gift ideas for Dad’s special day. The majority of these projects can be made for less than $10! Enjoy.

75 DIY gifts for Father's Day

More Than 50 DIY Projects to Make From Old Chairs

Over 50 Ways to Recycle Old Chairs FB

If you are planning to ditch that broken or mismatched random chair, I’m here to change your mind. Don’t do it! You won’t regret hoarding chairs and broken chair parts once you browse our collection of over 50 super sweet things you can make from them. Be ready to have your mind blown!


Which project is your favorite? I am super impressed with all of them, and partial to my friend Debi’s imaginative spindle to Christmas ornament upcycle. I’m not surprised. She comes up with some unbelievable DIY projects and shares them on her youtube channel here: Debi’s Design Diary. Not only will you learn how to make awesome stuff from junk, but you will laugh your fanny off as well. Enjoy!
Over 50 Ways to Recycle Old Chairs

Upcycle Coffee Sleeves into Gorgeous Jewelry

How to Make Gorgeous Jewelry From Coffee Sleeves @savedbyloves

Today I am sharing with you this great coffee sleeve upcycle. With the amount of coffee I drink, the sleeves were starting to pile up. I saved them, knowing one day, inspiration would strike and I would repurpose them. The idea to create jewelry from them came to me over the weekend as I was sorting through my Sizzix dies. These are easily customizable to coordinate with any style. Follow along and make your very own!

SUPPLIES:

upcycled jewelry tutorial

Coffee Sleeves

Acrylic Paint (I used Distress Paint)

Asymmetric Rings Sizzix Die

Butterfly and Rings Sizzix Die

Mod Podge Antique

Non-Stick Craft Mat

Markers to coordinate with paint(I used Distress Marker – Vintage Photo)

Jump rings

Toggle clasp

Ear wires

2 pairs of jewelry pliers

INSTRUCTIONS:

2 Repurpose jewelry

Unfold coffee sleeve.

3 Upcycled Jewelry Tutorial

Randomly apply your favorite acrylic paint colors.

4 Jewelry Making Tutorial

I went for a warm and cool color range.

5 DIY Jewelry

Once paint is dry, cut out rings with sizzix as shown. If you don’t have a sizzix, you can cut by hand, or use paper punches.

6 How to Seal Paper Jewelry

Seal pieces for durability. I dipped them in Mod Podge antique finish.

7 Upcycled Jewelry Ideas

Brush away excess Mod Podge and let dry.

Distress Paper Edges

Mark around the inner and outer edges of the rings. On the left is before marking, the two on the right have been marked around the edges.

9 Attach rings with jump rings

Use various jump rings to attach rings for earrings and bracelets as shown.

Upcycled Earrings from Coffee Sleeves

How to Make Cardboard Jewelry

Jewelry from Coffee Sleeves

I am in love with these pieces! Super easy and cheap to make. You could also use the die cut coffee sleeve shapes in your mixed media art.

60 Ways to Upcycle Jeans

60 Things to Make from Old Jeans FB @savedbyloves





60 Things to Make from Old Jeans @savedbyloves

Botanical Specimen Art Free Printable

Free Printable Botanical Specimen Art from @savedbyloves

Today is another gem from my recent old book inheritence! This is a cool North American Wildflower botanical art print. Mine is sized 11×14, but you can resize as you wish.Wildflowers

Just right click this thumbnail and the full resolution print will pop-up for you to print or edit as desired.

Free Botanical Printable

For tons more free printables, check out our site: Printable Decor

free floral printable art

100 Mason Jar Projects to Make

Mason Jar Craft Roundup @savedbyloves
The creative mason jar projects keep rolling in, so we have updated our orignal round-up of jar crafts to include our new favorites. Enjoy!!

 

Mason Jar Crafts fb

 

Free Printable Shell Specimen Art Trio

Free Printable Shell Art Trio Coastal Decor @savedbyloves

Today I am sharing with you this free printable shell speciment art trio I created, using images I found in an early 1920’s flea market book. Mine are framed in Dollar Tree shadow boxes that came matted to fit 5×7 inch images. Who knew you could get such a thing for a mere dollar? I was pleasantly surprised! You really can’t beat this $3 instant wall art deal. Get your downloads and spruce up your decor, coastal style.

Shell 3

Shell 2

Shell 1

To access the full resolution versions of the above thumbnail images: right click the image, then download or print the full res version that pops up in a new browser.

Free Specimen Art Printable Trio

I printed mine with my Epson Artisan 837, on Premium Matte Presentation Paper. You can print 2 of the 5×7 files on one 8.5×11 sheet.

Free Printable Shell Art Trio Coastal Decor WM

I am loving my new vignette for spring!

Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to scan images from old books and use them to create art prints in Photoshop! Not all books are public domain. Find out about what is o.k. to use in this great article: Public Domain Frequently Asked Questions. Keep your eyes peeled for old books on your junking and thrifting adventures for books published prior to 1923, and examine them for cool images to use in your graphic design projects!

Free Printable Shell Art Trio Coastal Decor CG

If you love this style, check out our 50+ Coastal Decor Projects:

Privacy Policy