Basic zucchini bread

I love the one from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, it just has the best spices. I admit I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for, because I don't know what you mean by "basic" because I think that they are all basic. But anyways, my other favorite recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and that's this one:

From America's Test Kitchen Season 15: Let's Make Bread / Cook's Illustrated

Zucchini Bread

What should be a light, moist snack is often a dense, greasy disappointment. Could we lighten the loaf?

Makes 1 Loaf

Use the large holes of a box grater to shred the zucchini. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness 5 minutes early.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds zucchini, shredded
1 1/4 cups packed (8 3/4 ounces) brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.

2. Place zucchini in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, discarding liquid (you should have 1/2 to 2/3 cup liquid). Whisk brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl. Fold in zucchini.

3. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in large bowl. Fold in zucchini mixture until just incorporated. Fold in walnuts, if using. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

4. Bake until top bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 65 to 75 minutes. Let bread cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on wire rack. Serve.

Here is an old school recipe from my friend Anne Storrs.
Zucchini Bread
Beat together:
3 eggs beaten
1 ¼ cup oil
1 ½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Add: 2 cups grated zucchini

Sift together and add:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 cup nuts.

Bake at 350 for 1 ¼ hours.

We found ourselves with too much zucchini this weekend and went in search of a great basic recipe. We decided to make 2 different loaves from a Food and Wine article titled "Best Zucchini..." One loaf used 1lb zucchini, it was way too dense/wet, but the flavors were very nice. One loaf was made with Greek yogurt, and 1 c zucchini, this loaf had nice texture, but no flavor. I might suggest experimenting with the 2 recipes, both were very easy.
Here's the link to the article, good luck.
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-best-zucchini-bread-recipes

This one is plain and simple, but it's a family favorite:
http://inpatskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/09/zucchini.html