Two birds, one stone: Baking and freezing zucchini bread for the holidays
So you can't go anywhere without someone offering you an armful of zucchini from their garden? Or your own harvest has left you with so much produce that you've started counting green squash in your sleep?
Fear not. I have a solution. And it comes in the form of this terrific low-fat, low-sugar zucchini bread that I've been making for years. It comes from Jane Brody's Good Food Cookbook, and it calls for about 1 medium zucchini per loaf, and just half a cup of sugar and 6 tablespoons of oil. the bread is so sweet and moist, it makes you wonder why all those other recipes call for so much sugar and oil.
But this is a double-edged solution. The holidays are coming. I know some of you have begun to think about that already. You're going to need hostess gifts and a little something for teachers, co-workers, friends and family, so why not turn the overabundance now into thoughtful, delicious presents you'll be so happy to have on hand later.
I have multiplied this recipe and made four loaves at a time with great result. You can use several normal-size zucchini or you can grate up one of the huge ones that seem to suddenly appear no matter how diligent you are. And if you aren't surrounded by zucchini, no worries. Use yellow squash. They work just as well.
One caveat thought. Zucchini is a very wet vegetable. If you substitute yellow squash (be sure to remove any large seeds), you may have to add a couple of tablespoons of water to get the flour to incorporate into the batter.
The original recipe calls for raisins (golden ones would be very fancy and delicious) but I prefer nuts only. It's terrific with walnuts and really delicious with pecans. Feel free to add chocolate chips. And you can substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil if you need some good cholesterol.
To freeze, wrap the individual loaves in aluminum foil, then put each one into its own zip-top bag. You can thaw the bread right in the foil, but take it out of the bag to store so the surface won't get soggy.
Enjoy!
Jill Blanchette is the multiplatform production editor at The Day. Share comments and recipes with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.
'Grate' Zucchini Bread
Makes one loaf
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1¼ cups packed, grated zucchini (or summer squash)
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped nuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat and white flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and chopped nuts.
In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, zucchini, and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring to combine well. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer, pushing it into the corners of the pan.
Put the pan in the oven and set your timer for 45 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out with wet dough stuck to it, put it in the oven for another 5 minutes, repeating until the pick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Original recipe from "Jane Brody's Good Food Book."
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