Better than Paula Deen's Zucchini Bread

Last night I went on a baking/cooking spree and made 2 loaves of zucchini bread and a batch of salsa verde. (Tried and failed to get rid of excess zucchini, did manage to use all the tomatillos.)

I used a recipe from Paula Deen as a starting point for the bread. And before I go any further, let me just say that I really do love Paula Deen. She's the Queen of Unabashed Excess, and I think it's wonderful. In a world full of fake butter, stevia, and portion control, she's perfectly content to just add a little extra butter or sugar. (Or butter, and mayonnaise, and cheese...)

However, there are some limits. Her zucchini bread recipe called for 3 cups of sugar (3!) to 3.25 cups of flour--that's a pretty intense ratio. I tweaked a couple of other ingredients and came up with the following delicious bread--sweet and spicy, but not cloying, and perfectly moist. (In my humble opinion.)

Better Zucchini Bread

3 1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 c. sugar (I use the organic, unrefined variety)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. butter, melted and cooled
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. plain yogurt
2 c. grated zucchini (NOT drained)
2. teaspoons lemon juice & zest of one lemon
1 c. chopped nuts of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard loaf pans with parchment paper. Combine flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, and both sugars in large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine butter, eggs, yogurt, zucchini, lemon juice and zest. Fold wet ingredients into dry, without overmixing. Split the batter between the two pans, and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake 1 hour, or until tester come out clean. Cool on baking racks until cool enough to eat (but still warm)!