Staci's Sweet Treats: Mini Lemon Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

A very dear friend of mine, who knows how much I love to cook and bake, gave me this recipe to try. She was so cute about it too, telling me that since it had zucchini in it, it had to be good for you. I was so excited to try it. I love it when friends and/or family think of me when they see a recipe that I might like. I quickly scanned the recipe to see what if all I needed and then made me list. When I got to the store I was disappointed to find that they were out of Buttermilk, a key ingredient in this recipe. At first I was upset, thinking "now what am I going to do?". I thought about going to another store, but with my kids with me, I quickly decided against that. That was when I decided that I would just go back home, and make my own buttermilk. I knew that I did not need a lot, so it shouldn't be that hard.

Once the kids and I returned home, I when searching the internet for an easy way to make homemade buttermilk in a pinch. In no time flat I had a buttermilk recipe in hand (which you will find out how to make below) and was ready to start making these amazing little breads.

The original recipe said to bake in a 9x5 loaf pan, which I am sure turns out great, but I wanted to be able to share this recipe with not only my friend who gave it to me, but also some family members as well, so I made mine in mini 5 3/8 x 3 3/16 loaf pans. Actually they were left over mini loaf pans that I bought at Christmas time, but who cares what is on the outside, it is what is baked on the inside that counts!

These little breads have such an amazing lemon flavor that you won't even realize that there is zucchini in it. The glaze get soaked into the cake and seeps down to the bottom and keeps it moist and delicious. I will by all means be making this one again. It is the perfect things to share with just about anyone and with its bright lemon flavor keeps people coming back for more.

Here is what you need:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2cup canola oil (I use applesauce here)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk (If you don't have any, simply use 1/2 cup milk and add 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice. Mix and let stand for 10 min)
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini

For the Lemon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon milk

In a bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder together and set aside. Then beat the eggs until smooth. Add oil (or applesauce) and sugar until well blended. Add the lemon juice, buttermilk and lemon zest and mix until all the ingredients are well mixed. Carefully mix in the zucchini into the mix.

Add the dry ingredients to the zucchini mix until well combined.