Zucchini Bread
Zucchini bread is one of the first recipes I remember making entirely on my own. For as long as I can remember, my mother has always had a vegetable garden which has produced an abundance of zucchini. While there are many wonderful ways to cook and bake with zucchini, my mother’s zucchini bread is one of my favorites. As a child and teen I made my mother’s recipe for zucchini bread so many times I had it memorized!
While I will always love mom’s recipe, I wanted to see if I could create a variation that would improve the nutrition a bit. The white whole wheat flour and flax increase the fiber, vitamins and minerals a bit without sacrificing much, if anything, in terms of taste and texture. Typically mom (and I) would exclude the nuts in her recipe, but including them gives another nutritional boost. I did try experimenting with reducing the sugar in the recipe, but one of my favorite elements of my mother’s recipe is the crust that forms on the top of the loaves.
It has a slight sheen and crisp/crackle kind of texture to it, and I always save that top crust to eat last. Well, as it turns out, that is 100% the result of the sugar in the recipe – it is fully dissolved in the eggs and helps set that perfect crust (much like the shiny surface on a good brownie). If you want to reduce the sugar, you can, and the bread will still taste wonderful (albeit less sweet) but you will loose that characteristic crust. I decided I’d rather keep the sugar 🙂
I’ve included both mom’s original recipe and my adaptation in this post, I hope you give them both a try!
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 loaf pans
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the dry ingredients.3 cups (380 g) flour, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp (½ tsp) salt
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs well. Continue to beat while slowly adding the sugar and then slowly stream in the oil.3 eggs, 2 cups (400 g) sugar, 1 cup (240 ml) oil
- Beat in the zucchini and vanilla.2 cups (252 g) zucchini, 3 tsp (15 ml) vanilla
- Stir in the sifted dry ingredients just until combined. If you are using the nuts or seeds, fold them in.1/2 cup (73 g) nuts
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour to 1hour and 15 minutes. The top should be domed and lightly cracked and a toothpick inserted in the center should have a few moist crumbs attached.
- Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Once removed from the pans, cool completely before slicing.
Private Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Grease 2 loaf pans (9 1/2" x 5 1/2") and preheat oven to 350° F.
- Beat eggs well, slowly add sugar and continue beating until mixture is very thick and pale.5 eggs, 2 1/2 cup (500 g) sugar
- With the mixer running, slowing add the oil to form an emulsion.1 1/4 cup (300 ml) vegetable oil
- Add the zucchini and vanilla; mix well.1 1/2 tablespoon (22.18 ml) vanilla extract, 3 1/2 cup (440 g) zucchini
- Blend in dry ingredients, just until they disappear – do not overmix.3 1/2 cup (420 g) white whole wheat flour, 1 cup (162 g) flax-seed meal, 1 1/2 teaspoon (1 ½ teaspoon) baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) salt, 1 1/2 tablespoon (1 ½ tablespoon) cinnamon
- Fold in the nuts if desired.1 cup (100 g) pecans
- Divide batter equally between the prepared pans.
- Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Private Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!More recipes you might enjoy:
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