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Cook the Book: Zucchini Bread

Posted by Caroline Russock, August 11, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Oh noes! What to do with too much zucchini? Photograph from virtualcourtney on Flickr

This past Saturday was Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbors' Porch Day. To help deal with the bounty of zucchini that all of your neighbors surely bestowed upon you, we shared some of our favorite zucchini recipes. What's one more going to hurt? Zucchini is abundant enough this time of year.

Elizabeth Barbone, author of Easy Gluten-Free Baking, is afraid that Zucchini Bread had become a bit of a culinary joke, something we only make when we're overrun with zucchini in late summer. She thnks there's another reason to make zucchini bread: It tastes great.

This recipe is gluten-free and uses two types of rice flour, white rice flour and sweet rice flour. Both can be found at health food stores but Barbone prefers to buy hers at Asian markets, for some reason the texture is smoother. Sweet rice flour is made from glutenous rice and is great for retaining moisture in baked goods.

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Zucchini Bread

- makes 1 loaf -
Adapted from Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone.

Ingredients

Vegetable shortening, for pan
White rice flour, for pan

Dry Ingredients

1 1/4 cups white rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients

2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together with the oil until well combined and slightly frothy. (Use high speed on a handheld mixer or medium-high on a stand mixer.) Add sugar and vanilla; mix until sugar is dissolved. Add dry ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. (Use medium speed on a handheld mixer or medium-low on a stand mixer.) Using a wooden spoon, stir in grated zucchini. Pour the batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake for 60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

5. Place pan on a wire rack to cool, 10 minutes. Remove bread from the pan and place on rack to cool completely.

Baker's Note: This recipe also makes fantastic muffins! Line muffin pans with paper liners. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Makes about 2 dozen muffins.

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Tags: baking, breads, Cook the Book, Easy Gluten-Free Baking, Elizabeth Barbone, gluten-free, vegetarian, zucchini