My Favorite Zucchini Bread Recipe
I bake a lot of things, so it was kind of a big deal when my Mom recently told me that her favorite thing that I bake is zucchini bread. My family loves it too, so I always double the recipe. When our CSA produces tons of zucchini I will prep and freeze the zucchini in double batches. The baked loaves also freeze and later thaw well, but really, you probably won’t even need to do that since it goes so fast. Below is an annotated version of the recipe from Baking Illustrated.
My Favorite Zucchini Bread Recipe
Makes one 9-inch loaf (I use these loaf pans; they are the best!)
Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 pound zucchini, washed and dried, ends and stems removed, cut in half lengthwise and seeded if using large zucchini, then cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup sugar (split)
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped, toasted + cooled *I substitute chocolate chips because we have a nut allergy in our house
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray loaf pan (or grease with butter and dust with flour).
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the zucchini and 2 tablespoons of sugar until the zucchini is coarsely shredded, 12-15 one-second pulses. Transfer the mixture to a mesh straighter and allow to drain for 30 minutes (you could also do this step with a box grater if you don't have a food processor).
3. Stir together nuts with flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined.
4. Whisk remaining sugar (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons), yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter in a bowl. Set aside.
5. Squeeze the zucchini with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. (I hate this step and find that it works fine to skip if I just periodically stir and let the draining zucchini sit to drain longer!) Stir zucchini into yogurt mixture. Then stir wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just moistened.
6. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth surface. Bake until loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes. Cool for a few minutes in pan then turn out onto rack.
