The Great Zucchini Bread Secret [and recipe]

The second summer after my husband and I were married, I knew I wanted to have a vegetable garden in the raised bed on the south side of our rental house. We planted peas, broccoli, carrots, green beans, sweet peppers, watermelon, and zucchini. I learned three things:

• Lesson #1 for first-time gardeners: Don’t spread yourself too thin.
• Lesson #2: Don’t beat yourself up when the broccoli, peppers, and watermelon don’t make it.
• Lesson #3: If you plant zucchini, you will need to find friends to share it with, or many many MANY recipes.

The go-to recipe for most people with an overwhelming amount of zucchini is bread. It’s easy, tastes delicious warm or cooled, with or without butter, and is a good way to get your kids to eat some veggies.

The very first time I made zucchini bread, I followed my mom’s recipe, which called for “2 cups grated zucchini.” After making a huge mess with the cheese grater and finally getting two cups worth, I vowed to never make zucchini bread ever again. It turned out great though, just like I remembered when I was a kid.

After trying a fresh piece, my husband came to me with two comments.

“Do I taste cinnamon?”

Yes, of course, it’s in the recipe.

“Zucchini bread doesn’t call for cinnamon.”

To which I showed him my mom’s recipe, which indeed called for 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. To which he showed me his mom’s recipe, which was the EXACT same – minus the cinnamon.

Well. That’s interesting.

His second comment: “You should just chop the zucchini in the blender next time. It’s a lot easier than grating, and the overall texture will be smoother.”

Wait, what?!?

I read the details of his mom’s recipe: Put 1 cup oil in blender and fill with chunks of zucchini until 3 cups. Blend until free of chunks, but not too long.

BRILLIANT!

While I love the taste of zucchini bread, I’ve never been a fan of the stringiness of the grated zucchini that’s in it.

So that’s the big secret I wanted to share with you today. Use the blender when making zucchini bread. Maybe it’s not such a big secret… but it sure was news to me. I’ve made it that way ever since! (thank you dear husband!!)

You don’t even need to peel the zucchini. Leaving the skin on the chunks gives tiny green specks in the bread (which might not be so great if you have picky eaters, but my kids have never minded, and it’s MUCH better than those grated zucchini chunks).

So tell me… is this concept new to you too? Or has the rest of the world been making zucchini bread this way forever??

(oh and also tell me: cinnamon or no?? 🙂 )