It seemed like an enough of an accomplishment this month to just get a Relishments Bakes challenge posted AND post a recipe, so I decided not to push it by thinking too hard about what to make.
It’s August and the obvious choice was to make zucchini bread. I opted to try the Ultimate Zucchini Bread from Smitten Kitchen.
This recipe is delightful. I had nearly of the ingredients on hand and ordered zucchini in my CSA share. You grate the zucchini, but don’t need to wring it out, which I consider the worst part of a zucchini bread recipe. All of the ingredients are then combined in a single bowl and mixed with a fork. All together, I used 1 box grater, 1 bowl, 2 measuring cups, 3 measuring spoons, a fork and the baking pan. So few dishes!
The ingredients list includes cinnamon and nutmeg and I was a little concerned that the bread would be too spiced. It wasn’t though, it was perfect. One of the promises of this recipe is a very crispy top, which results from letting the bread cool overnight. The top of my life was a little crunchy, but not too impressive. This may have been due to humidity. It didn’t damage the experience, however. I think this really is the ultimate zucchini bread recipe.
A textural feature that I did really appreciate was the density of this bread. I cut slices that were about an inch thick and they could easily be picked up without breaking. Zucchini bread that’s easy to eat with one hand gets points in my book.
I plan to make some more batches of this zucchini bread because it was so good. Frozen bread certainly wouldn’t have a crispy top, but I think sacrificing that feature would be worth having this bread in January.
Stay tuned for next month’s challenge!
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