Spicy Zucchini Bread

The Short Story

A uniquely savory zucchini quick-bread, this bake can easily be customized with a variety of cheeses, oils, and hot sauces to create your personal signature flavor.

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The Longer Story

This is the ideal quick-bread- it’s easy, adaptable, flavorful, and uses leftover vegetables to boot. There are three things you should know when baking this recipe. I’ll list them here, and we’ll go over each in detail below.

  1. Drain the zucchini
  2. Adjust the flavors
  3. Use an instant thermometer

Drain the zucchini

Without this step, the bread is way too wet in the end- the zucchini carries a ton of water! I would recommend at least draining it a little bit, and from there you can drain more or less depending on how you prefer the texture of the bread. If you want to drain just a little bit, simply use your hands to gently squeeze the shredded zucchini over a sink until some of the water has drained. If you want to drain a lot of the water, place the shredded zucchini in a square of cheesecloth or a thin, clean dishtowel (this is what I usually do). Make sure to weigh the zucchini after you’ve drained as much water as you want so you know you have enough zucchini.

Adjust the flavors

There are three main ways you can customize the flavors in this bread to your taste- cheese, hot sauces, and oils. Cheeses and hot sauces are pretty self-explanatory. Use your favorites to get the best flavor, and feel free to add more or less of each! Oil was the unexpected factor that I found deeply affected the flavor of the bread. Part of the reason it struck me so much might be because Erin Jeanne McDowell originally calls for all olive oil. Unfortunately I hate the taste of olive oil, and felt it overpowered the bread the first time I made it. However, the fact that oil affects the flavor so much means you can change the taste exactly to your liking! Feel free to mix and match any types of cooking oils- as long as you have 120g total oils, you’re golden. I usually use all canola oil or a ratio of ¾ canola oil and ¼ olive oil.

Use an instant thermometer

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Spicy Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

  • 300g (2½ cups) all-purpose flour
  • 10g (2 tsp) baking powder
  • 5g (1¼ tsp) fine sea or kosher salt
  • 2g (½ tsp) freshly ground black pepper
  • 1g (1 tsp) red pepper flakes
  • 2g (¾ tsp) garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano or thyme
  • 120g (½ cup) olive, canola, avocado, or other oil
  • 115g (½ cup) whole milk, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs (113g), at room temperature
  • A few dashes of hot sauce (or 5g/1tsp sambal oelek), optional
  • 300g (2 packed cups) shredded zucchini, pressed slightly to remove liquid
  • 100g (1 cup) (plus extra for optional topping) shredded white cheddar, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, mozzarella, or Gouda cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C with a rack in the center. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch/23 x 13 cm loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and oregano or thyme to combine.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk both the oils, milk, eggs, and hot sauce or sambal oelek, if using, to combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until thoroughly combined.
  4. Gently fold in the zucchini and cheese until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread into an even layer.
  5. If using the topping, sprinkle the extra cheese evenly over the surface of the loaf.
  6. Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it or temperature reaches 200-205°F (93-96°C), about 40 to 45 minutes.
  7. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then unmold onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.