We've reached that time of year when many people find themselves up to their ears in zucchini. I've been seeking the stuff out at our local farmers markets -- as I am a total sucker for zucchini bread. (I suppose you could eat the vegetable straight, but in my book, anything's better when it's wrapped in a sweet robe of carbohydrates...). This past week I picked up a ginormous specimen from the boys at Stoney Acres Farm, and immediately made plans to make a loaf or two of zucchini bread. We're in the midst of a move, so with my cookbooks and recipe box already boxed up, I took to the Internet to find the perfect recipe. I started with my go-to-website, Smitten Kitchen, and Deb's recipe (linked below) looked like a great starting point. Zucchini bread recipes typically use a lot of oil and sugar; I subbed out half the oil with nonfat Greek yogurt and decreased the sugar to just one cup. I also decreased the number of eggs from three to two; I don't think the resulting bread loaves suffered at all from any of these changes.
This zucchini bread is delicious -- the combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger adds depth to the bread's flavor and the generous amount of vanilla (relatively speaking) helps to add a bit of sweetness as well. If you find the bread to be slightly dry just after baking, wrap it up and let it sit for a day -- it will gain moistness over time. Also, I found that my zucchini was slightly frozen (my fridge apparently has some major cold spots) -- if after shredding the zucchini you find it to be overly wet, wrap it in a dish towel and squeeze out any excess liquid over the sink before adding the shredded zucchini to the batter.
Zucchini Bread (printer-friendly version)
makes 2 loaves
2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 cup raw sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8"x4" loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Beat together the eggs, olive oil, and Greek yogurt in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar, grated zucchini, and vanilla extract.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in the nuts if using.
5. Spoon the batter evenly into the two prepped loaf pans.
6. Bake both bread loaves in the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean. Place the loaf pans on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully invert the pans to release the bread, and let cool completely. To store, wrap in aluminum foil and keep in the refrigerator.
(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)
makes 2 loaves
2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 cup raw sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8"x4" loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Beat together the eggs, olive oil, and Greek yogurt in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar, grated zucchini, and vanilla extract.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in the nuts if using.
5. Spoon the batter evenly into the two prepped loaf pans.
6. Bake both bread loaves in the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean. Place the loaf pans on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully invert the pans to release the bread, and let cool completely. To store, wrap in aluminum foil and keep in the refrigerator.
(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)
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