I remember the first time I heard the term “zucchini bread”. Visions of a bright green loaf of grassy flavor, full of seeds entered my head. It sounded rather gross but I did like cornbread so… hmm. Wait, it’s a sweet bread? It was inconceivable! A sweet bread made of green veggies? It was sounding worse and worse by the second. I filed this notion of zucchini bread away in the back reaches of my brain and continued to bake that old standby, banana bread, time after boring time with the only variation being with nuts, or without nuts.
Eventually someone offered me a taste of homemade zucchini bread and behold! It wasn’t green! It tasted downright yummy! My sweet bread horizons expanded exponentially that day.
Cue the sounds of violins and angels singing.
OK, I’m exaggerating, but from that day on I was much more open to baking things that at first glance seemed a bit unusual. What could be next? Carrots?
This zucchini bread from Sally’s Baking Addiction includes everyone’s favorite chocolate chips and an oatmeal streusel topping. If you’ve never tried zucchini bread what are you waiting for? Confess. You know you’ve always wanted to hear those angels!
So, tell us…
Have you tried this recipe? Have you made something similar? Do you like a particular photo? Does a step seem unclear? Please leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
- 2/3 cup oats old fashioned or quick
- 1/2 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter cold
- 1 Tablespoon semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chips
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup zucchini grated
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick vegetable spray. Set prepared pan aside. In a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and flour. Cut the cold butter in pieces and toss with the oats and flour mixture to lightly coat.
- With a pastry cutter, continue to cut in the butter until the resulting mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In the event you do not have a pastry cutter you may use two knives or your clean fingertips using a light touch insofar as to not melt the butter. Stir in the Tablespoon of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Set this bowl aside.
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and chocolate chips. Set this bowl aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk the egg until beaten. To the beaten egg, add the sugars, oil and vanilla and continue mixing until combined. Add the grated zucchini and stir until evenly distributed.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and using a large spoon, mix until just combined. Do not over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly into all corners.
- Allow the bread to bake for 20 minutes then remove and cover with the streusel mixture, lightly pressing down into the batter. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking approximately 25-30 minutes more until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the pan to a wire rack for cooling. Remove the bread after one hour and serve or cover tightly for storage.
To modify this recipe for muffins, pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F and grease 10 muffin cups or use paper liners. Prepare recipe the same as for bread, filling each muffin cup or liner 3/4 full. Divide the topping between the muffins and press down lightly. Bake for five minutes then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 13-14 additional minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness. This bread keeps well for up to five days tightly wrapped at room temperature or in the fridge.