Zucchini Bread

Have you ever planted any zucchini? Do you have a ton?? I am what you might call “gardening challenged” so I usually don’t bother. Even zucchini, globally known as the easiest vegetable to grow, has proven too difficult for us. Thank you farmers, for being good at your jobs, so that I can make this zucchini bread! If you have never taken a glorious bite of warm, buttered zucchini bread, you are missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures. Zucchini bread is a quick bread, meaning it has no yeast, and is leavened with baking soda, or baking powder (kind of like a muffin, but in loaf shape). It is made with grated zucchini and is usually spiced with cinnamon. Zucchini is mostly water, so it brings tons of moisture to baked goods. Not just any moisture though: flavorless moisture that is basically calorie free. You really can’t taste the zucchini in zucchini bread, just the same way your carrot cake doesn’t really taste like carrots. All you taste is moist delicious cake, and moist delicious zucchini bread! Many classic zucchini bread recipes call for only white sugar. I found that I like to use a mix of both white and brown to bring in that caramel-y flavor, and of course the extra moistness that brown sugar brings! This does make the bread a bit darker, but I didn’t hear any complaints from my testers.

Best Zucchini Bread Recipe Variations…
I love this zucchini bread just the way it is, but you can mix it up with mix-ins:
– Add chocolate chips (or a high quality bar of chocolate, chopped).
– Sprinkle the top with raw sugar, granulated sugar, or, if you’re really livin’ it up, cinnamon sugar (no, you don’t need to buy a shaker of cinnamon sugar, just mix some cinnamon with your sugar).
– Add nuts. Chopped walnuts or pecans are a sure bet (toast them first if you know what’s good for you).

Cool zucchini bread on its side for crispier edges!
We all know the best part of zucchini bread is the crispy crackly top. The other 3 edges tend to get soggy pretty fast. The faster you take it out of the pan, the crispier your edges will be, but another trick is to cool bread on it’s side (on a cooling rack, once you’ve removed it from the pan). The bottom of the bread is the hottest part, and cooling on it’s side can help the bread cool down faster, resulting in crispier edges. This can also help prevent your bread from falling in the center (although you shouldn’t have a problem at all with today’s recipe.) Once the bread is completely cool (okay well, maybe not ALLL the way cool), use a sharp serrated knife and use a sawing motion to slice the bread.

FAQs:
Why does zucchini bread crack on top? Quick bread like zucchini bread and banana bread often come out of the oven with a big crack down the center of the top of the bread. Don’t panic! This is a good thing! Quick breads crack as steam from the bread escapes from the center. The other reason is because the edges of the bread set faster than the center, so as the unbaked center rises, the edges pull on the top of the loaf, resulting in a crack. A crack is a sign of a well baked loaf, because it means that the bread has risen properly. The center will be fluffy and tender instead of dense. Embrace it!

Why is my zucchini bread soggy? It’s because your bread still needs more time in the oven! Sometimes it can take over an hour to bake thoroughly. Zucchini bread is a diva, okay? Give it some TLC. The best way to know if it’s done is to use a thermometer to test that the internal temperature of the bread has reached 200 degrees F.

How can I make my bread more moist? The best way to ensure that your quick bread turns out supremely moist is to add sour cream and oil to your batter. In today’s recipe, we are using sour cream, oil, AND butter to get the perfect level of moisture in our bread.

Why is my zucchini bread too moist? Say no to gummy zucchini bread! Too-moist bread is usually the result of not squeezing the extra liquid out of your zucchini before adding it to the batter. Don’t skip it!

Can you taste zucchini in zucchini bread? Nope! Zucchini has a pretty mild flavor, so all it does in baked goods is add moisture. No zucchini flavor. Just delicious sweet bread.

Ingredients:
Bowl 1:
2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom, optional
2 cups shredded zucchini, 12 ounces, about 2 zucchini
Bowl 2:
1/2 cup butter, (1 stick) melted
1/4 cup neutral oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, light olive oil, etc
3/4 cup brown sugar*, packed
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Optional:
1 cup chocolate chips, I used half mini, half dark chocolate chopped
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, or pecans
1 tablespoon raw sugar, or granulated sugar, to top bread

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line one 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, or grease well with nonstick spray.
If you plan to add nuts to your bread, toast them now. Spread about 3/4 cup chopped nuts on a dry baking sheet. Toast at 350 for about 5 minutes. Stir the nuts and continue baking in 2 minute intervals, stirring every time, until the nuts are browned and very fragrant.** Set aside to cool.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled), 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom. Whisk together and set aside.
Mix the wet ingredients. Add 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) to a large microwave safe bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave.
Add 1/4 cup oil, 3/4 cup brown sugar*, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whisk together until combined.
Shred the zucchini. Shred your zucchini using the side of your box grater with the largest holes. (Don’t chop off the knobby end of your zucchini; use it as a handle!) You can also use the grating tool on a food processor to shred your zucchini.
You need 12 ounces of zucchini. If you don’t have a scale, measure out 2 cups, making sure to pack it in so you get the full amount. Usually this is about 2 smallish-medium zucchini.* Blot/ Squeeze the zucchini. Once your zucchini is grated, take the time to blot it on a paper towel, or squeeze it out. I like to lay a few paper towels on the counter, spread out the zucchini, then top with another layer of paper towels and press it down until both paper towels are soaked. Blotting your zucchini will keep your bread from being gummy. If you skip this step, you are still going to get great zucchini bread. I prefer the texture when the zucchini is blotted or squeezed. Add the zucchini to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix only until just combined. If you plan to add (1 cup) chocolate chips* or (3/4 cup) nuts, add them to the batter before the flour is even all the way mixed in, see photos. Then stir together with a spatula with as few strokes as possible. Over mixing the batter will result in tough bread.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Top your loaf with 1 tablespoon raw or granulated sugar, or a scatter of chocolate chips (or both! But use sparingly, if you add too much it will weigh down your loaf so that it doesn’t rise well.)
Bake the bread in the center of the oven at 350 for about 60 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out with no batter on it.
You may need to bake the bread for up to 70 or even 80 minutes, so prepare to be patient. Do not take it out of the oven until a toothpick comes out clean. (Be sure that you’re not seeing chocolate if you used chocolate chips) Cover your bread with foil as it finishes baking if it is getting over browned.
Let your bread cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes. At this point, if you used parchment paper, lift your bread out of the pan and let finish cooling on a wire rack. If you didn’t use parchment paper, let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Then flip the bread into your hand or a plate, then transfer back to the cooling rack. Let finish cooling on it’s side for extra crispy edges.
Store zucchini bread in a sealed container on the counter for up to 5 days.

Freezer instructions: Make sure that your bread is completely cool, then wrap the entire loaf in plastic. Stick it in ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Or to stash individual slices, wrap each cooled slice in plastic wrap, and store them all in a large ziplock. Let thaw (still wrapped) at room temperature on the counter. If you are in a hurry you can try heating it up in the microwave at a lower power level, or using the defrost button. Once thaw, we love to toast individual slices of zucchini bread to get them nice and toasty on the edges. And then slather in butter of course.

Notes:
* Yes, technically brown sugar is a dry ingredient. I like to add it in with the wet ingredients, so that I have a better chance of whisking out any brown sugar lumps.
* I read in a cookbook a few months ago, that one of the chef’s pet peeves, is when the cooks under toast their nuts. Since then I’ve made sure to toast nuts until they are turning brown, not just fragrant. It makes them so flavorful!
* If you are using a giant guitar-sized zucchini that got buried in the recesses of your garden, be sure to scrape out any seeds and discard before shredding.
* For the loaf you see in the photos, I used 1/2 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips that I roughly chopped. Milk chocolate will make your bread much sweeter. Cinnamon chips are also a delicious option if you can find them! I like to stock up on these at Christmas time.

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