Nothing makes me feel better about chowing down dessert when I know there’s two cups worth of zucchini in there. Not having a grater has really put a damper on my carrot cake-making ambitions, but I randomly decided that I am going to ignore the thought of mincing a vegetable by hand and go ahead anyway.
I tried a couple of techniques in order to cut up the zucchini as fine as possible with as little effort. I first tried cutting the zucchini into the thinnest medallions I could, then stacked them up and then chopped through them both vertically and horizontally. This didn’t always result in the smallest pieces, so I had to rock the knife back and forth to get it smaller. Next, I tried doing it like how I would mince an onion (slideshow from Serious Eats here). I’d say the latter method worked better; the pieces were more evenly sized for sure. Surprisingly, it didn’t take too long and it was even kind of relaxing.
I would personally reduce the sugar by maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup because it tasted too one-note sweet to me. Perhaps that problem might be mitigated with the addition of nutmeg. Also, I didn’t have two loaf pans so I used a 9-inch round cake pan and baked for 60 minutes. My cake ended up a little dry though not burned so perhaps the bake time could be shortened by 10 minutes — though it could’ve been because I simply didn’t use very much fat in the recipe.
Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 9-inch round cake or two 8×5 loaves
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Zucchini Bread
Adapted from several sources
Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination thereof (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease one 9-inch round pan liberally. Alternatively, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners or grease two 8×5 loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil, applesauce and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.
Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.
Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.
Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
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