Zucchini bread, a summertime classic that reminds us the winds are changing and fall is creeping its way around the corner. As you may have figured out by now I love making breads, anything from spiced breads to banana to pumpkin and you guessed it: Zucchini. Zucchini bread is the only way my sister Brooke, and co-founder of the our blog, will eat zucchini. Recently a very sweet and generous neighbor of ours brought by tons of ripe zucchini, and I figured this was a perfect opportunity to use some up and make this delicious treat. I had enough batter to make three loaves, so Brooke and I made this wonderful summer treat 3 ways- it was a like a “choose your own adventure” novel. The first bread has walnuts in it and a streusel on top. The second bread has just a streusel on top. The third is a plain zucchini bread that has a cinnamon cream cheese brown butter frosting on top. I know this sounds like a lot, but don’t worry I will walk you through every step of the way.
First things first, making the bread. This recipe makes enough for two medium loaves. Here are the ingredients: 2 cups zucchini, 3 large eggs, 1 cup canola oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp almond extract, 1/4 cup milk, 3 cups gluten free all purpose flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tbsp cinnamon, and 1 cup chopped and toasted walnuts. First thing to do is preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Secondly, peel, seed, and shred the zucchini. Brooke would like to add that, in her opinion, this takes way longer than it should, and she advises everyone to pay close attention to their fingers while shredding the zucchini on a box grater. Next, in a large electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, mix together the eggs canola oil, vanilla and almond extracts, and milk. Next, in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. With the mixer on low, slowly add fractions of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are all incorporated and the batter is well mixed. Then, fold in the zucchini and walnuts if you would like to have them in your bread. Divide the batter equally between two bread pans that have been greased with butter or a non-stick cooking spray, and fill about 2/3 of the way up.
Now here is the next adventure you can choose: how you want to top your zucchini bread. If you like it plain, leave it plain. If you like a streusel topping here is a delicious recipe I found from the blog Shugary Sweets, we altered it of course to make it gluten free. In a small bowl place 1/2 cup gluten free quick oats (such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oatmeal), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup all purpose gluten free flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 cup melted butter. Using your hands mix everything together. After the streusel is finished place it right on top of the batter and place the bread in the oven. Cook it for an hour, or until the toothpick comes out clean. Now rewind back to the topping. Another way that zucchini bread can be topped is with a frosting such as the one I found from the blog: Creative Culinary. It is a cinnamon cream cheese brown butter frosting. While the plain zucchini bread is baking in the oven brown 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan. Butter browning occurs when the butter is golden brown and there is the most foam on top. Watch it very carefully because butter can go from brown to burnt in a blink of an eye. Next, in a large bowl combine 8 oz of softened cream cheese, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp half and half, the 1/2 cup of browned butter, and 5 cups of powdered sugar. Use a hand mixer to mix these ingredients together until it is a spreadable consistency. Refrigerate the frosting until 15 minutes before you are ready frost your zucchini loaf.
Once the loaves are done place them on a baking rack to cool completely. Once the bread is cooled you can eat it plain, smother it in frosting, or savor the melt in your mouth streusel. Congratulations you have reached the end of this Gluten Free Goalie Girls “Choose your own adventure” zucchini bread recipe. I am sure however you decided to make you bread turned out delicious. Enjoy these beautiful summer days while they last, and from my kitchen to yours stay well Everyone.
Until next time,
Brynn
