Everyone Needs a Great Zucchini Bread Recipe
A few tricks intensify the flavor of this Great Zucchini Bread, making this recipe unique and extra delicious.
If you haven’t done it before, making Great Zucchini Bread from home-grown Zucchini plants is easy and so rewarding! (If you happen to have a yard. Right now I don’t.) One plant will give you all the zucchini you could ever want all summer long. The ‘fruit’ can grow up to 3 feet long, but I don’t recommend letting them get that big; the fruit will have less flavor and be harder to work with the larger they become. Zucchini is usually harvested when 8 to 12 inches long, as the seeds are still immature and soft.
When preparing the zucchini for Great Zucchini Bread, the skins need to be washed and the seeds scooped out like this:
I use a food processor with the shredding blade to shred the zucchini.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can simply use a box grater or cheese grater to shred the zucchini. In this recipe, you will wring out some of the water held in the zucchini, which is over 90% water! This helps to prevent soggy bread. (Which happens often in zucchini bread.) The moisture is replaced with ingredients that have flavor, making this recipe unique.
Did you know that Zucchini flowers can also be eaten? They are often stuffed, deep fried or even cooked into quesadillas! Zucchini is low in calories and a good source of folate, potassium, and vitamin A.
GREAT Zucchini Bread
- Total Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Description
A new trick when preparing the zucchini for this bread transforms soggy, bland zucchini bread into a delightful loaf packed with flavor that’s not too dry or too soggy, but just right!
Ingredients
- 1 pound zucchini (or two smaller zucchini equaling about a pound), seeds removed and shredded
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup of plain yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 thin kitchen towel or tea towel
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat to 375 degrees. Generously coat a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Wrap up the shredded zucchini in a thin kitchen towel and squeeze or ‘wring’ the juice out of the zucchini. You’ll need some ‘elbow grease’ for this and use a towel that you don’t mind getting stained.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and butter in a bowl until combined.
- Gently fold the yogurt mixture and zucchini into the flour mixture until no flour streaks remain. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and knife or skewer inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool for about an hour.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Side
- Cuisine: American
