Zucchini Spice Bread
This sweet bread spiced with cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg is the perfect way to take advantage of summer's abundance of zucchini!
Our family had a vegetable garden when I was growing up (soon I will have my own garden again!), and one of the most prolific vegetables we grew was zucchini. Summertime meals were filled with zucchini, and mom brought the extra squash to neighbors up and down the street. It could be challenging to find new and interesting ways to use all of the zucchini, but one of my favorite recipes was zucchini bread.
I’ve recently taken to the kitchen to rediscover this treat and find the best way of making a gluten-free version. To me, a bread warmed with cinnamon and other spices and loaded with chopped nuts is the best.
I bake the bread at a fairly low temperature (325 F or 300 F convection) and use a large loaf pan (5 inches x 10 inches), so the baking takes about 90 minutes, which gives the bread time to rise. For a faster bake time, you can try splitting the batter between two smaller pans (4 x 8) or turn up the heat to 350 F (325 F convection). You can tell when the bread is done when a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Zucchini bread freezes well, so if you have too much, you can wrap half of the loaf in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil to save in the freezer.
For equipment, you’ll need two large bowls, a 5 x 8 loaf pan, a flour sifter or whisk, and a rubber spatula.
Scroll down for a cat update!
Ingredients:
Bowl 1:
3 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour (see note1 about gluten-free flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Bowl 2:
3 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sunflower seed oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Final ingredients:
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Butter to grease the loaf pan
Directions:
Warm up oven to 325 F (300 F convection)
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg together or use a whisk to thoroughly blend them
In a second bowl, use a whisk or electric beater to blend the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix them together with a spatula
Add the zucchini and nuts and blend them into the batter
Pour the batter into a buttered 5 x 10 loaf pan and bake for approximately 90 minutes—it is done when a sharp knife or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
Allow the loaf to cool in the pan before removing it to a plate
Cat update: Brushing
Seraphina loves being brushed. We have one brush called the Furminator, which removes a lot of the loose fur from her undercoat. She lays down, purring, and rubs her face on a regular brush while I run the Furminator over her, removing what seems like enough fur to cover another cat! Before she jumps up to groom herself, I run the regular brush over her. Then it’s time to vacuum up the mountain of fur!
As in other recipes I’ve featured (like this one for chocolate chip cookies), I really like using King Arthur gluten-free flour for this. I’ve seen similar recipes that call for Bob’s Red Mill flour, and I’m sure that will work fine if that’s the brand you prefer. One reason I prefer King Arthur is that it is less expensive to use and comes in bigger bags than most gluten-free flour blends. Make sure any gluten-free flour you use for baking contains xanthan gum.