5 Tips For Making Zucchini Breads And 2 Recipes

5 Tips For Making Zucchini Breads And 2 Recipes

Zucchinis are 1 of the easiest veggies to grow in your own backyard. It’s also one of my most favorite ingredients to create into loaves of healthy bread for friends and family. Below are a couple of tips as well to help you in your quest to bake good healthy zucchini breads

1) If you’re buying the zucchinis, make sure to pick those that are not more than 10 inches in total length and make sure that there are no damages to their outside skins.

2) Store them inside room temp. areas because when you’re refrigerating them, they will ripen faster.

3) Fresh zucchinis have a shelf life of five days so use them right away.

4) You could also freeze the zucchinis. Just peel off its skin then shred its pulp. Then, measure two cups of pulp then put into a Ziploc bag then seal it shut.

5) Zucchini loaves can be stored inside your freezer. You just need to wrap them with some plastic wrap and then follow with another layer of foil. Then just label them up and store in your freezer. Can be stored for 3 months.

Below are 2 tried and tested recipes that I’ve always used. If you’re using that sort of moist and sweet loaf then I suggest that you make the “lemony zucchini bread”. If you’re in the mood for some nuts inside your bread well then feel free to try out the “flourless nutty zucchini bread”

LEMONY ZUCCHINI BREAD

1.5 cups shredded zucchini
3/4 cup sugar (white)
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8×4 inch loaf pan. Inside a bowl, beat together the zucchini, sugar, egg, and oil. In another separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, & baking powder; add in the cinnamon & lemon zest.

Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat, and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

FLOURLESS NUTTY ZUCCHINI BREAD

1 teaspoon orange extract
3 pcs eggs, beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cup pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts or pistachios, ground to consistency of coarse meal
1 cup almond flour from very finely ground almonds
3/4 pound zucchini, grated
Spray canola oil
Optional garnish: dusting of powdered sugar
Optional spread: whipped cream cheese with cinnamon sugar added to taste

Preheat a 5 quart crock pot with the lid on at high for 15 minutes. Pot must be preheated. Blend together first 8 ingredients in large bowl then add nuts and zucchini.

Spray bottom and sides of preheated pot with cooking spray. Pour batter evenly into pot. Cover and then bake 45-60 minutes. Bread is cooked when sides have shrunk from sides of pan and tip of a knive inserted into center comes out clean.

Ready to eat at once, but best cooled with lid and power off for at least ten minutes. Bread can be cut and served in the pot or flipped out onto a rack to cool.

To flip, run a knife around edges of your bread. Using heavy duty pot holders, pull pot out & place a rack on top. Hold handles of pot with rack in place. Flip over in one quick movement. Bread should pop out. Turn it over so crown side is up. Optionally, dust crown with confectioners’ sugar or blend cinnamon sugar into whipped cream cheese for a delightful spread.

Notes: This is really a great recipe on hot summer days when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen with a hot oven. It’s also a way to bake a quick bread if your oven is doing another duty.

In truth, I mix the batter inside a food processer with a steel blade. I first grate the zucchini with a grating plate and then set aside. I change over to the steel blade, add a generous cup of whole almonds and grind them very fine.

Then add the other nuts and grind to a coarse texture. Add the rest of the ingredients then blend well. Serve 12 to 16.