Simply Perfect Zucchini Bread is a great way to use up a bumper crop of fresh zucchini – the bread is moist, delicious and simply perfect.
Do you have a bumper crop of zucchini to use up during the summer months? If you do then you need this recipe for Simply Perfect Zucchini Bread in your collection. It’s just sweet enough, moist, full of flavor and deeply satisfying in the way only a home-baked quick bread can be.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
So apparently zucchini fresh-picked from the farm can keep a LONG time in the fridge. I’m talking over three weeks. I’d picked up a rather large zucchini from one of my local farm markets, originally intending to grill it for sandwiches. But summer travels and swim meets happened and that zucchini was still sitting in my vegetable drawer. It was still perfectly fresh when I ran across THIS recipe for zucchini bread from America’s Test Kitchen. And so I decided to try it to use up my zucchini.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had made zucchini bread, probably because I had been underwhelmed by my previous attempts. But this recipe? It really does yield a simply perfect loaf. For my own unique spin I used both ground walnuts and macadamia nuts (because that’s what I had in the house) plus I added some fresh pineapple sage leaves from my neighbor’s extensive herb garden. It’s not a mandatory addition but the macadamias and subtle pineapple flavor made my loaf just a little bit tropical, which is always fun for summer.
Thank you so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of Foodtastic Mom. Be sure to PIN and print this recipe!
Simply Perfect Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs fresh zucchini shredded and drained
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup ground nuts I used a combo of walnut and macadamia
- 2 tbsp pineapple sage ground together with the nuts, optional
- 1 tbsp sanding sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x5 bread pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place the shredded zucchini in a large mesh strainer and press on it thoroughly. Press as much liquid out of the zucchini as you can.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Fold in the drained zucchini, ground nuts and sage (if using).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- Stir the flour mixture into the sugar and zucchini mixture until well combined.
- Pour the bread batter into the pan. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with the tablespoon of sanding sugar.
- Bake the loaf for 60 - 70 minutes or until loaf springs back when lightly touched and/or a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Allow the loaf to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Leave a Reply