MORE squash-based desserts? Really??

I know I seem to have a theme going here, but bear with me. I bought one small (four-inch) pot of yellow squash starts to plant in my garden, split it in half to share with my friend, Vicky, and I still have yellow squash coming out of my ears! Vicky must be also be awash in squash, because she brought a loaf of the BEST zucchini bread into work the other day to share with us, her lucky co-workers. Now, as you know, if I am adding squash to baked goods, I prefer the chocolate zucchini cake in all its forms. Regular zucchini bread has never done too much for me. But this was REALLY delicious! So I asked for the recipe, and wouldn't you know, it was from Paula Deen, known for providing us with killer (almost literally) decadent recipes. For my colleagues who tasted the bread that Vicky made and want to make that exact version, here is that recipe (although Vicky omitted the nuts):

Paula's (and Vicky's) Zucchini Bread
(Source: Paula Deen via Food Network)

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.

Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

When I went to the Food Network's website to retrieve the above recipe, I read almost all of the previous 487 reviews! With the help of the people who had gone before me, I had some pretty good ideas about what I might want to tweak. And I am happy to report that my version yielded two AMAZING loaves! The bread was tender and flavorful with an awesome, slightly crunchy crust. Here's what I did to adapt Paula's recipe:

--Despite reviewer claims of saltiness, I left it at a half tablespoon, because I love the salty-sweet thing. (Those who don't may wish to cut back to 1 teaspoon.)

--I cut the nutmeg to 1/4 teaspoon (freshly grated, which is powerful stuff).

--I added 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (and had no loaf top sinkage as many reviewers reported, and as the picture on the Food Network's web site clearly displays).

--I upped the cinnamon to half a tablespoon.

--As many people found the bread overly-sweet, I reduced the sugar to 2 1/2 cups, and swapped out one cup of brown sugar for the white.

--Many reviewers chose to cut the oil by half and replace it with applesauce to add flavor, preserve moistness, and make it a bit healthier. I might try that next time.

--I omitted the water (which I always consider a flavor diluter), and increased the squash to 3 cups, thus adding more moisture. Also, I used yellow squash instead of zucchini, because as I said, I have a TON of it from my garden!

--I added 2 teaspoons of vanilla because it seems wrong not to.

--I doubled the amount of nuts (2 cups) because I love them so, and toasted the pecans for a few minutes in a dry frying pan beforehand. This is always worth doing when nuts are involved.

--As many reviewers had trouble with the loaves sticking, I sprayed my pans with floured nonstick spray and put parchment just on the bottoms of the pans. The loaves turned out perfectly (after letting them cool in the pans on a rack for 10-15 minutes).

--I used dark, nonstick pans, so I reduced the baking temperature to 325, and they took an hour and five minutes, rotating the loaves about halfway through for even baking.

Taking all of these amendments into account, my version of the recipe goes like this:

Gina's Summer Squash Bread

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups grated yellow squash
2 cups toasted walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sugars. In a separate bowl or large glass measuring cup, combine oil, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add squash and nuts and fold in.

Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray and lined with parchment, for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes. Let loaves cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before turning out and allowing to cool completely on the rack.