Cranberry Lemon Zucchini Bread - A Sweet and Tangy Quick Bread Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

Should you squeeze water out of zucchini for bread? ›

Squeezing is optional.

But unless your zucchini is excessively juicy, squeezing the squash could be removing some of the moisture you really do want in the bread. It's up to you, though. Squeeze for lighter, drier bread. Leave it as is for denser, moister bread.

When they are larger, zucchinis tend to contain more water, which leads to excess moisture in the batter. Additionally, larger zucchinis don't taste as good, with a more bitter flavor. They can also have larger seeds. These large seeds can throw off the texture of your zucchini bread.

There's no need to peel the zucchini or remove the seeds. You also shouldn't press or squeeze any of the excess moisture out of it. You want all that to go into the bread!

"The problem with (zucchini) when baking is its high moisture content. After shredding, be sure to squeeze the zucchini well to remove as much moisture as possible. A clean dish towel or several layers of paper towels work. If you skip this step, the batter will have too much moisture and won't cook through."

A medium zucchini will result in approximately 1 cup of shredded zucchini. If you happen to be using a larger zucchini and the seeds are large, cut the zucchini lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.

Salt causes zucchini rounds to release excess water. This important extra step helps the zucchini to sauté rather than stew in its own juices.

When exposed to environmental stress, poor soil pH, or poor soil nutrition, zucchinis trigger the production of cucurbitacin, a natural phytonutrient that helps the plant overcome stress but consequently results in the unwanted bitter taste.

Keep the dough temperature lower: Lactic acid bacteria are most active in the higher temperatures of the mid 80s-90sºF. Keeping the dough in the 76-78º F range will still ferment and produce bacteria but will encourage lactic acid bacteria instead of acetic acid bacteria resulting in a more mild flavored loaf.

After experimenting, removing the skin is found to be most effective in removing the bitter taste. (This is also mentioned in one of the links in @mfg's answer. Cooking in water removes some, but is not as effective as removing the skin.

When sliced, 1 medium zucchiniyielded about 1 to 1.25 cups and if grated, you end up with about 2/3 cup of tamped down zucchini. If you need 1 cup of cooked sliced zucchini, due to shrinkage while heated it will take about 3 medium zucchini, sliced, to hit the mark.

What if zucchini bread batter is too thick? ›

If it is too thick, add another egg. Add nuts, if desired. Lightly grease and flour your bread pans, or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Carefully spoon the mixture into bread pans, stopping when the mixture is about 3/4 of the way to the top.

The best way to grate zucchini is whatever is fastest. If you're grating a lot of zucchini (more than two at a time), we recommend grabbing a food processor with a grating attachment. For smaller amounts, a box grater usually does the trick.

Using too much baking soda or baking powder can really mess up a recipe, causing it to rise uncontrollably and taste terrible.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean, about 70-80 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for at least 15 minutes, then gently remove from the loaf pan using the parchment as a sling. Let continue to cool on rack until fully cooled before slicing.

We'll go over this in more detail below, but in short - If you're looking for the safest way to store zucchini bread - just refrigerate it. Seal your bread in a plastic storage container or plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator.

You can add zucchini to most of your favorite recipes. Zucchini adds a ton of water unless you extract water from your grated zucchini. Grated fresh or frozen zucchini, without being pressed or drained, is about 50% water. So you have to cut back on the water in the recipes.

When cooking with grated zucchini, it's important to squeeze out the moisture to stop your dish from going soggy.