Heidi Swanson's Special Zucchini Bread

By hefk -
Gwen and I tried this a few weeks back but we didn't squeeze enough moisture out of the shredded zucchini so we baked it for like, 19 hours. The attempt turned out better; it's now my favorite zucc. bread recipe. The notes in brackets are mine.

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, plus a few to sprinkle on top [the bigger the chunks, the better]
1/3 cup poppy seeds (optional)
zest of two lemons (optional)
1/2 cup crystalized ginger, finely chopped (optional) [I'm not crazy about how crystalized ginger gets stuck in your teeth, so I used powdered ginger, but I suspect grated fresh ginger would taste awesome too]

1/2 cup unsalted butter [I added another 1/4 C]
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large (preferably organic) eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups grated zucchini (about 3 medium), skins on, squeeze some of the moisture out and then fluff it up again before using. [do not skip the squeezing step!]

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or apf flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon curry powder (optional) [I used garam masala]

Special equipment: two 1 pound loaf pans (5 x 9 inches) [I made muffins - the teeny ones baked for 20 min and the regular sized baked for just under 30 min]

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter the two loaf pans, dust them with a bit of flour and set aside. Alternately, you can line the pans with a sheet of parchment. If you leave a couple inches hanging over the pan, it makes for easy removal after baking. Just grab the parchment "handles" and lift the zucchini bread right out.

In a small bowl combine the walnuts, poppy seeds, lemon zest, and ginger. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat again until mixture comes together and is no longer crumbly. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Stir in the vanilla and then the zucchini (low speed if you are using a mixer).

In a separate bowl, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and curry powder. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, stirring between each addition.

By hand, fold in the walnut, poppy seed, lemon zest, and crystalized ginger mixture. Save a bit of this to sprinkle on the tops of the zucchini loaves before baking for a bit of texture. Avoid over mixing the batter, it should be thick and moist, not unlike a butter cream frosting.

Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans. Make sure it is level in the pans, by running a spatula over the top of each loaf. Bake for about 40-45 minutes on a middle oven rack. I like to under bake my zucchini bread ever so slightly to ensure it stays moist. Keep in mind it will continue to cook even after it is removed from the oven as it is cooling. Remove from the oven and cool the zucchini bread in pan for about ten minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling - if you leave them in their pans, they will get sweaty and moist (not in a good way) as they cool.

Makes 2 loaves. [or many muffins]

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/my-special-zucchini-bread-recipe.html

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