If you’ve got apples to use up, grab this recipe and make this apple zucchini bread. It’s a simple and quick recipe that is just delightful!

For the last five years or so, I’ve wanted to go apple picking in Hood River, it’s been on my bucket list. Hood River is a city about an hour and half from where we live, and they’re known for their fruit loop. It’s a 35 mile loop that boasts 28 fruit farm stands, wineries, and breweries, cideries, and fields for flower picking.

We went out one beautiful, warm Sunday in the late morning and made the drive to Hood River and spent a few hours at The Gorge White House. We ordered lunch there, and while we waited for it to be ready, we picked apples – it was so fun! We got a few cute pictures of the kids and just had a lovely afternoon together, all seven of us. It’s rare to get us all together anymore, it seems. With Grace in college and working and Josh traveling lately and just a lot of different activities on the calendar, I wasn’t even sure this was going to be possible. But I think we got the last beautiful October day with temps close to the 80’s and made some sweet memories as a family.

I’ve got a lot of apples to play with now, though. I’ve been making my grandmother’s apple crisp, this cast-iron apple pie, and we made crepes with apples, too! That was amazing, by the way. With that recipe, we cooked the apples in honey butter (!!).

Dreamy is all I can say about that one.

I also made this Apple Zucchini Bread. I happen to love “quick” breads. Simple to bake. Simple ingredients. Quick breads make a great snack or even breakfast/dessert. I am particularly fond of this bread because it makes three loaves, which reminds me of my friend Cindy’s Pumpkin Bread that is also on the blog. That recipe also makes three loaves of bread. You know what three loaves of bread means, right? One loaf to eat and two to give away. In our case, I made one for Josh to share with his men’s Bible study, and then I saved the other two loaves for these pictures! 😆

Between the apples and shredded zucchini, this is not a dry bread at all. Instead of using vegetable oil, I used applesauce, which is not only a healthier option, but also just added to that beautiful apple flavor. I used pecans in this recipe, but of course you could also use walnuts if you prefer, or if there is a specific nut allergy.

I love the earthy fall flavors from the cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s just sweet enough, but not too sweet. Let me put it this way, this bread warmed up with a bit of grass-fed butter = chef’s kiss!

If you’ve got apples you’re looking to use up, grab this recipe and make this apple zucchini bread. It’s a simple and quick recipe that is just delightful!