Zucchini Bread or Muffins
When my mother found a bag of zucchini on her back doorstep (not an uncommon sight on returning home in July or August), she would sometimes grate it and freeze it in 1- or 2-cup bags to be used in the months ahead. My sister has carried on this tradition, and sometimes tops her walnut-and-raisin-laden muffins with a cream cheese icing. As her younger brother, I prefer to swap out her cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts, for cardamom, pistachios, and apricots with a little grated orange zest, and to eat them uniced, but I leave you to choose a side in the sibling rivalry wars.
Ingredients
- 1 cup zucchini, grated on the large holes of a box grater
- ½ cup apricots or other dried fruit, briefly soaked in warm water and drained
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour, plus more for flouring baking dish or muffin tins
- 1½ teaspoons cardamom
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup neutral oil, such as canola, plus more for making dish
- ½ cup chopped pistachios
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grate zucchini, set aside, and squeeze dry over the sink or in a kitchen towel. In a bowl, combine zucchini, dried fruit, and 1 tablespoon of the flour. Mix together.
- In another bowl, mix remaining flour, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Separately, beat eggs lightly with sugar, and then add ½ cup of oil, using a rubber spatula to combine ingredients. Add flour mixture in 2 parts, incorporating it into the batter. Lastly, fold in the zucchini and dried fruit mixture, the chopped nuts, and zest. For a lighter texture, mix until just integrated, avoiding overworking the batter.
- Place batter in greased and floured 9-by-5- inch loaf pan, and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until top springs back when touched.
- Alternately, bake in greased and floured muffin tin for 20 minutes, or until tops springs back. Cool on a wire rack and turn out of pan after 10 minutes to finish cooling.
Notes
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK LOADER
