Zucchini Bread
Zucchini bread is an American quick bread: a sweet loaf made with grated zucchini, oil, eggs and cinnamon, leavened with baking soda and baking powder rather than yeast. It's what home bakers do with a summer glut of squash — the zucchini brings almost no flavor of its own, just water, which keeps the crumb damp and tender for days. Sliced thick and eaten with butter or plain with coffee, it sits somewhere between a cake and a bread and refuses to choose.
Ingredients
- 400 gzucchini
- 280 gwheat flour
- 150 gbrown sugar
- 100 gsugar
- 3 pcsegg
- 160 mlvegetable oil
- 100 gwalnuts
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- 2 tspvanilla extract
- 1 tspbaking soda
- 1 tspbaking powder
- 1 pinchnutmeg
- 1 pinchsalt
Method
- Heat the oven to 175°C and line a 23×13 cm (9×5 in) loaf tin with baking paper. Spread the walnuts on a tray and toast them 6–7 minutes until fragrant, then chop them roughly and let them cool.
- Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, skin and seeds included — there is no need to peel it. If it looks very wet, let it sit in a sieve a few minutes and press lightly; if it looks ordinary, leave it as it is.
- Whisk the flour, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and a pinch of salt together in a large bowl.
- In a second bowl, whisk the eggs with both sugars until smooth, then whisk in the vegetable oil and the vanilla extract until the mixture is glossy and homogeneous.
- Fold the grated zucchini into the wet mixture, then tip in the dry ingredients and the toasted walnuts. Fold with a spatula only until the last streaks of flour disappear — overmixing makes the loaf tough and rubbery.
- Scrape the batter into the tin and level the top. Bake 55–65 minutes, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. Cover loosely with foil after 35 minutes if the top is colouring too fast.
- Cool in the tin 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely before slicing. Cutting it warm tears the crumb and makes it seem underbaked.
FAQ
It depends on the squash, which is why recipes disagree so sharply. The moisture in grated zucchini is what gives this loaf its characteristically damp, tender crumb and its long shelf life, so wringing it dry in a towel usually produces a drier, plainer cake. On the other hand, a very large or very juicy zucchini can release enough liquid to leave a dense, gummy layer near the base. The practical answer: if liquid pools under the grated pile within a few minutes, drain it briefly in a sieve and press lightly; otherwise use it as it is.
No to both, for a standard-sized zucchini. The skin is thin, softens completely during baking, and disappears into the crumb apart from faint green flecks that most people find appealing. The seeds in a young or medium squash are small and soft enough to go unnoticed. The exception is a very large, overgrown marrow: those develop tough skin and big, watery seeds, so peel it and scoop the seedy core out before grating.
Usually one of three things. Too much liquid from a very wet squash, which pools at the bottom during baking and sets into a dense layer. Overmixing, which develops gluten and gives a tough, rubbery texture with tunnels. Or underbaking — quick breads with this much moisture need the full time, and the skewer test should give moist crumbs, not wet batter. Also check that your oven isn't running cool; an oven thermometer settles the question quickly.
Technically it's a quick bread, a category that also includes banana bread and cornbread. These are leavened with baking soda and baking powder rather than yeast, mixed in minutes rather than kneaded and proofed, and baked in a loaf tin. In sweetness and texture it sits close to a cake, which is why it's eaten as breakfast, snack, and dessert without anyone objecting. The name is historical rather than a description of how sweet it is.
Wrap it well once fully cool and keep it at room temperature for 3–4 days; the flavour and texture are arguably better on the second day, as the moisture redistributes through the crumb. In the fridge it keeps about a week but the crumb firms up. It freezes very well for up to 3 months, either as a whole loaf or in slices with paper between them, which lets you thaw exactly as much as you want.
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