Lemon-Zucchini-Almond Bread

I think I may be in love. And it's not something I ever expected to love... lemon zest! I've never been a lemon fan. I don't like lemonade. I've never used lemon on anything. Ok, I do like the little sweet lemon drop hard candies, but that is it. This recipe is AMAZING. And to top off its amazing yumminess, you also get a little vegetable and some nut protein in each luscious bite! Woohoo! Now that's a win in my book. lol I found this recipe on Pinterest, and a previous bread I made, Lemon Almond Bread, was so good, that I decided to give this one a shot. It's called Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread. The bread is really flavorful; the zucchini adds some depth to it; the almonds add a bit of texture; and the glaze is out of this world. I adapted the recipe just a little bit, but I can't give you a comparison because I never tried the original. Read them both if you so desire, and take your pick! You'll probably notice that the pictures don't look like the same thing, and it's actually not. I made a loaf of this last weekend to try it. Today, I doubled the recipe so that I could make more so that I could take it work tomorrow. It made a little more than I anticipated, so I ended up with a 9X13, a mini-loaf pan full, and a small loaf as well. Following is the single loaf recipe.

2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk ***
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1 cup grated zucchini

1/2 cup almonds, plus a Tbsp or so for garnishing

Glaze ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
2.5-3 Tbsp lemon juice

1-2 tsp lemon zest

First prep your fresh ingredients - grate the zucchini and zest and juice the lemons. The original poster left the peel on her zucchini. I think it would have been nice for the color, but I have a picky eater, and it's much easier to hide the zucchini with the green removed.

Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Then add oil and sugar until well blended. 

Add lemon juice, buttermilk, and lemon zest to this mixture and blend all together.

*** Note, if you don't have buttermilk, you can make a substitute by using 1 Tbsp lemon juice and adding enough milk to reach the one cup line. Then use however much you need.

Fold in zucchini until it is mixed well. 

Add dry mixture to the wet mixture and blend all together until well combined.

Add almonds and mix well. Pour batter into greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. 

The original says to glaze the bread while it's still warm. I didn't want the heat of the bread to melt the glaze, so I let mine cool first. To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest until combined.

Carefully spoon glaze over bread. Garnish with a bit of zest and a few almonds. Your mouth should be watering at this point to try it, so go ahead and give it a taste!