Zucchini Bread

This Z is not for Zorro, it’s for the moist and crunchy Zucchini Bread ;-)

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

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Inspired by the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 medium zucchini (30 cal)

- 1 garlic clove, roasted (5 cal)

- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)

- 1/4 cup rye flour (100 cal)

- 3 cups white all purpose flour (1365 cal)

- 3/4 tbsp yeast

- 1/2 tbsp salt

- 1 cup of water (should be 1 1/2 cups of liquids total combined with the zucchini juice)

Total 1620 cal, 2 1-lb loaves, 820 cal/loaf

Instructions

1. Mince the roasted garlic. Wash and roughly grate the zucchini, do not peel. Squeeze the juice from the grated zucchini and pour into a measuring cup. Add water so that the total amount of liquids is 1 1/2 cups. Ideally, you might want to add water so that the resulting temperature of the liquids will be between 90F and 100F, but it’s not necessary. Don’t use water that is too hot - liquids warmer than 100F might kill your yeast.

2. In a large container that has a lid, using a wooden spoon mix all the ingredients until all the flour is incorporated. Cover the container (not airtight) and let on the kitchen counter for about 2 hour until the dough approximately doubles in size. 

3. Use the dough after the 2 hour rest or refrigerate it in the same container still covered (not airtight). The refrigerated dough can be used over the next 10 days. 

4. On the baking day, sprinkle the dough with flour to prevent sticking and cut the desired amount. I use half of the dough at a time to make a 1-lb loaf. Gently form a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Place the ball on a cornmeal or semolina coated pizza peel. If you do not use a baking stone, place the bread on a cookie sheet which will be used for baking. Let the loaf rest for about 90 minutes (or 40 minutes if using non-refrigerated dough).

5. Place an empty broiler tray in the oven where it will not interfere with the rising of your bread.   About 30 minutes before baking preheat the oven with the broiler tray and the baking stone to 450F. If you do not use the stone, the preheat will be shorter.  

6. Right before baking slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife (in a Z pattern :-) ). Slide the bread onto the stone, if using, or simply place the cookie sheet into the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot (not boiling) tap water into the broiler tray - be very careful here: the tray is hot and there will be a lot of steam.  Avoid splashing the water on the oven glass door (the glass might crack).

7. Close the oven door as soon as possible to trap the steam inside. Bake for about 45 minutes until the bread is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. 

Afterthoughts

This crumb is very moist and soft thanks to zucchini. But I had some quite large chunks of zucchini left in the bread, especially the skin, which I did not manage to grate well; and I don’t think I like this fact too much. Maybe I’ll get used to it or maybe next time I’ll grate the zucchini in a food processor.