Reinventing Zucchini Bread What should be a light, moist snack is often a dense, greasy disappointment. Could we lighten the loaf? j by sarah mullins k photography: CArl Tremblay I n the health food–crazed 1960s and ’70s, recipes for zucchini bread popped up everywhere. With bits of healthy green vegetable speckling the crumb, the bread was a sweet treat you could not only enjoy but also feel virtuous about eating. But while other food fads have come and gone, zucchini bread has remained hugely popular—and for an entirely different reason: The high water content of the vegetable makes it ideal for producing the soft, moist crumb that is the hallmark of a great quick bread. But zucchini can also be a liability, as too much leads to a soggy loaf. That’s why, in spite of the oft-stated goal of using up surplus squash, most recipes top out at a mere 10 to 12 ounces. And funnily enough, despite being associated with a health-food movement, the recipes tend to call for copious amounts of oil that turn the loaf greasy and overly rich. Packing more zucchini into the bread would hopefully pave the way for scaling back the 1/2 to 3/4 cup of oil that most recipes call for, so I set a goal of doubling the usual amount of squash. Simply folding coarsely grated zucchini shreds into the batter is common, but wringing them out in a towel first seemed like a better approach: The drier the zucchini was, the more I could squeeze into a loaf without sogging it out. Sure enough, a full ½ cup of pale green liquid dripped out of 1½ pounds of squash. Encouraged, I ran a few more zucchini along the fine holes of the grater before wringing them out, reasoning that the increased surface area of the smaller pieces would help expel more liquid. Indeed, I got ¾ cup of juice from this batch. I used each type (both wrung out), as well as 1½ pounds of unsqueezed coarse shreds as a control, in a typical zucchini bread recipe minus most of the fat: all-purpose flour, generous amounts of baking soda and powder for lift, sugar, touches of salt and cinnamon, eggs, a handful of toasted walnuts, and just 1/4 cup of oil. I scraped the batters into greased loaf pans before putting them into 325-degree ovens. The bread made with unsqueezed shreds emerged predictably wet and gummy, and the finely shredded loaf was just as dense—the thin shreds had clumped Look: It Really Is Better Video available free for 4 months at CooksIllustrated.com/aug14 Zucchini Bread Makes 1 loaf Use the large holes of a box grater to shred the zucchini. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness 5 minutes early. For our free recipe for Zucchini Bread with Pistachios and Orange, go to CooksIllustrated.com/aug14. Sprinkling sugar over the batter produces a crisp crust. together, compressing the crumb. Fortunately, the coarsely grated squeezed squash produced a crumb that was supermoist, more open, and significantly less gummy. Plus, it wasn’t greasy at all. I’d stick with the squeezed coarse shreds. Now what about this loaf’s flavor? Here I was pleasantly surprised. As low-key as zucchini may be, I had feared that an overload would give the bread a vegetal taste. But despite the significant amount, the bread had a sweet, mildly earthy taste; mineral or strong vegetal flavors were absent. It turns out that by removing much of the moisture, I had also removed some of the key compounds, called Amadori compounds, responsible for zucchini’s vegetal flavor, which are concentrated in the juice, not the flesh. I just needed to get rid of a remaining trace of gumminess. I swapped a portion of the all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour, since the bran and germ in whole-wheat flour allow it to absorb more moisture than the all-purpose kind. I was gratified to find that not only was this latest loaf no longer sticky but it also boasted a nice coarseness from the whole wheat. It just needed some complexity. No problem: I simply switched from granulated sugar to molasses-y brown sugar, increased the cinnamon to 1 tablespoon, and added nutmeg and vanilla. With its light, moist crumb that’s low on oil and chock-full of zucchini (and even boasts a whole-grain element), this bread might even pass as a “health” food. I just consider it the best zucchini bread I’ve ever tasted. july Zuchinni Bread Layout.indd 23 & august 23 1½ 1¼ 1/4 2 1 1½ ½ 1 1½ 1 1 ½ ¾ 1 pounds zucchini, shredded cups packed (8¾ ounces) brown sugar cup vegetable oil large eggs teaspoon vanilla extract cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour cup (2¾ ounces) whole-wheat flour tablespoon ground cinnamon teaspoons salt teaspoon baking powder teaspoon baking soda teaspoon ground nutmeg cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional) tablespoon granulated sugar 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan. 2. Place zucchini in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, discarding liquid (you should have ½ to ⅔ cup liquid). Whisk brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl. Fold in zucchini. 3. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in large bowl. Fold in zucchini mixture until just incorporated. Fold in walnuts, if using. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 4. Bake until top bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 65 to 75 minutes. Let bread cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on wire rack. Serve. Zucchini Bread with Walnuts and Dried Cherries Substitute cocoa powder for cinnamon and ground cloves for nutmeg. Prepare bread with walnuts and add ¾ cup dried cherries, chopped, to batter with walnuts. 2014 4/21/14 11:27 AM