Stop me if you have heard this one.
A neighbor walks into his backyard. Innocently, he plants a generous row of zucchini seeds in his garden. Almost overnight, he has pretty green plants. Then, one morning, to his delight and amazement, there is a tiny zucchini on one of his plants. Woo-hoo! Our not-so-green thumbed friend thinks it is a miracle–a validation of his innate gardening skills. Then, seemingly overnight, the scene turns nightmarish. That first glorious zucchini turns into dozens of fruits. Those dozens turn into dozens more and our neighbor is overwhelmed. He can’t keep up.
Do you, like our zucchini-growing neighbor, find yourself in a summer zucchini crisis ?
What to do?
You can only eat so much sautéed zucchini and onions–not the most flavorful dish in the world anyway IMHO. That’s not a solution.
You can give it to your neighbors but remember that your neighbors can only feign appreciation for so many zucchini gifts. Don’t drop your excess zucchini on their doorsteps. Trust me on this. No. Really. Trust me.
You can’t rely upon the garden mouse. She eats all the good stuff in your garden but she won’t touch the zucchini. There is probably a lesson in that.
Whatever you do, don’t try to hide the zucchini in fancy dishes. Your guests will know what you’re doing and will, in the end, resent it.
Composting. There’s always composting.
My recommendation is that you try that “when life gives you lemons” approach. If nature has given you an overabundance of zucchini, why not make this zucchini bread? It is delicious– great slathered with a bit of cream cheese for breakfast, great topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert, just great…
And…if you gift your neighbors with a loaf, it doesn’t technically count as giving them zucchini.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1/2 C. unsalted butter (plus more for greasing the pan)
- 3 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 2 t. cinnamon
- 2 t. kosher salt
- 1 1/4 t. baking powder
- 1 1/4 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. freshly-grated nutmeg (or 1/4 t. ground nutmeg)
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 C. light brown sugar
- 3/4 C. granulated sugar
- 3/4 C. canola oil
- 3 medium zucchini (grated)
- 1 C. chopped walnuts
- 1/4 C. fresh orange juice
- Grated zest of 1/2 orange
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease baking pans and line them with parchment. I used three small baking pans. My baking pans are ancient, so your sizes may vary. My pans measure about 4 inches by 7 1/2 inches.
- Melt butter in a small pan and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the butter starts to brown and smell nutty. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat. Set aside.
- Whisk dry ingredients together (flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg) in a medium-sized bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together eggs, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and canola oil. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.
- Prepare the zucchini by grating it. I used my food processor but you could use a box grater. Squeeze as much water out of the grated zucchini as possible. I used my hands and then put the grated zucchini in a dish towel and squeezed out as much liquid as possible.
- Add the zucchini and browned butter to the egg mixture. Whisk to blend.
- Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into that well. Use a spatula to mix the wet and dry ingredients.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pans. Smooth the top of the batter and tap the pans on your counter to settle the batter into the pans.
- Bake, rotating once, until your zucchini bread is golden brown on top and until it pulls away from the sides of the pan. This should take between 50 and 60 minutes. My bread was baked at about 55 minutes. When done, the bread should measure about 200 degrees F. on your thermometer when inserted into the center of the bread. Alternatively, you can check the doneness of the bread by sticking a toothpick into the center of the bread. It should come out clean.
- Remove bread from the oven and let it cool completely on wire racks before removing from the loaf pans. Slice and enjoy. Sprinkle tops of the loaves with powdered sugar.
Notes
I used a combination of grated zucchini and grated yellow squash.
This recipe was adapted from an Alison Roman recipe that appeared in the New York Times. Here is the link: Alsion Roman Zucchini Bread New York Times.
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