Banana bread is one of my favorite sweet breads to make at home. It’s always a family favorite. With that said, I found a way to sneak in some healthier ingredients like freshly shredded zucchini and crushed pineapple to the batter to make it even better! The results are fantastic! You’ll get a very flavorful and moist sweet bread! You can bake it in loaf pans or bake it in fun glass mason jars like I did. I like to use pint size, wide mouth glass mason jars for baking mini loaves of bread.

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Here’s the recipe and how you can bake the bread using pint size wide mouth glass mason jars. You ONLY want to use wide mouth jars which makes it a lot easier to pour the batter in and to get your baked bread out!

Prepare your wide mouth glass mason jars by washing them in warm, soapy water. Rinse with clean water and let them dry. Before you start mixing up the bread batter…lightly spray the inside of each jar with non-stick baking spray. I like using the spices from Selefina. They’re always high-quality and really affordable. Check out their website to learn more about Selefina and to do your shopping. I highly recommend Selefina for all of your spices!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Zucchini Pineapple Banana Bread Recipe Baked in Glass Mason Jars

3 medium eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups shredded, peeled zucchini
8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1-2 overly-ripe bananas, mashed
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. Selefina ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Selefina ground nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

In a large mixing bowl beat together the medium eggs, vegetable oil, granulated sugar and vanilla extract. In another mixing bowl combine together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and the salt. Pour those ingredients into the first bowl, stirring to combine everything together. Next, stir in the shredded zucchini, crushed pineapple and mashed bananas until combined. .

Pour the bread batter into the prepared glass mason jars filling them 70% of the way full. You need to allow space for the bread to expand during the baking process.  Fill up a large roasting pan or baking dish with about 2″ of water. Place all of the jars into the roasting pan and then place the entire baking pan into your preheated oven.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the center of the bread is done. It should bounce back and the tops of the loaves should be a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool in the jars.

Once they’re cool place new or gently used lids onto the jars. This is NOT canning! These will not keep for months on a shelf. You can store them in your refrigerator or on the counter-top. You need to eat them up within 4-6 days…just like a normally baked batch of Zucchini  or Banana Bread. If you’re making the bread to give out as foodie holiday gifts…make sure you let people know that it’s NOT shelf-stable for months at a time…that it needs to be eaten within a few days.

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Nectarines are one of my favorite fruits! They’re sweet and juicy but not overly so. One way you can preserve fresh nectarines is by home canning them using a water bath canner. The process is really easy. Once they’ve been properly processed, they’re shelf stable for 1-2 years. That’s right…shelf stable for a couple of years! They’re 100% better tasting than any fruit that you buy in a can at your local grocery store.

This recipe will yield approximately 6 pint or 3 quart jars. You can easily cut the recipe in half if you have less than the required amount of nectarines. You’ll find over 50+ home canning recipes on the TwoClassyChics blog!

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Nectarines Recipe

18 medium to large fresh nectarines
Ball Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector
1 batch of Light Syrup for Canning (see below)

Light Syrup – 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar mixed with 5 1/4 cups of water. This will yield approximately 6 1/2 cups of syrup. To make the syrup…mix the granulated sugar and water together in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes to get all of the granulated sugar to dissolve. Reduce heat to a low simmer.

Wash nectarines with cold running water to remove dirt. Place them in a colander to allow the water to drain. Place on a cutting board and cut each nectarine in half. Twist the fruit to loosen up the pit. Remove the pit. Use a teaspoon to remove any fiberous strings that were around the pit. Keep the skins on. I find these can better if left in halves. Place nectarines halves in a bowl with water and Ball Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector (instructions on how much to use will be on the package). This will keep them from darkening.

Prepare the light syrup as stated above.

Place the nectarine halves into the prepared hot syrup for 2-3 minutes. You need the fruit to get hot but don’t cook it! Pack the hot nectarines pit side down into hot jars. Ladle the hot syrup into the jar. De-bubble. You need to leave a 1/2″ headspace in each jar. Wipe the rim clean, add the seal and band until it’s finger-tip tight. Repeat until all of the jars are filled.

Process all of the jars in a water bath canner. Pints need to be processed for 20 minutes, quarts need to be processed for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the cover. Let jars cool for 5 minutes sitting in the canner. Remove jars and place them on a cotton towel sitting on your countertop to cool. Once 12 hours have passed…check all jars to make sure that they sealed properly.

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