I have this thing about breakfast.  Especially on the weekdays. 

 

I need it to be something easy, but filling, quick, yet hearty.

Not always the easiest thing to find.  I also prefer to eat breakfast sitting at my desk at work, rather then before I leave in the morning.  So no eggs and toast here.  Seriously iced coffee and a pastry makes me sooooo happy.

 

I used to live by this amazing coffee shop called Crema.  I loved this place.  It reminded me of Alterra in Milwaukee, which I was desperately missing upon moving out of Milwaukee.  Plus they brewed Alterra coffee.  Back to the point.  I would stop there on my way to work and get coffee and a blueberry danish sometimes.  Iced coffee in the summer, hot in the winter.  The danish were sooooo good.  I’ve yet to find anywhere on this side of town with as good a morning pastry. 

So occasionally, I make something myself.  I’m fairly certain the danish I love so much are none too healthy, so I’m always trying to dream up a recipe that will satisfy that craving for baked goods in the morning, without feeling like I ate dessert for breakfast.

I’ve had berries in my house non-stop for the past few weeks, well pretty much since berry season started in Wisconsin.  I have them growing in the backyard, and inevitably I buy more at the farmers market every week.  This week I had blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.  I also had some frozen shredded zucchini from last growing season in my freezer.  I thought combining the three in a baked good would be a great balance, as well as healthy and packed full of nutrients.

 

 

This is the part where I jot down the recipe super quick while making it up.  Sometimes I can’t read them when I go to type them up later.  It’s time for a laptop in this house.

I went easy on the sugar and butter in this recipe, but think I could have gone with even less sugar.  Try cutting it down when you make it and see what you think.  The berries add tons of natural sweetness and the zucchini takes on this wonderfully squashy/pumpkin quality when baked.

 

You could also easily substitute any number of fruits in this bread.  Apples?  Sounds great!  Peaches?  Divine.  Take what you have around the house and make your self a loaf of breakfast for the week.

 

 Blueberry Raspberry Zucchini Bread

            Ingredients  

 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar (like I said, try less)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

 

 

For the topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

 

 

            Directions

 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

 

2.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.  Add vanilla and sour cream.  Slowly add flour mixture until well mixed.  Add shredded zucchini.  Carefully fold in blueberries and raspberries. 

 

3.  Prepare the topping:  In a small bowl, mix flour and sugars.  Chop cold butter into small chunks and add to flour and sugar.  Using your hands, work butter and flour together until it forms a pea like crumble.

 

4.  Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.  Spread crumble topping over.  Bake for approximately 1 hour until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.