Almost my entire back yard is a garden now, but I’m only allowed to have one zucchini plant each summer after inundating us with green baseball bats a few years back. Still, just one plant is producing an awful lot of squash. So I’m on my annual quest for recipes to use them up. I’ve already done the usual lightly sauteed zucchini with almonds and parmesan, and a very moist zucchini-walnut cake with Meyer lemon. I’ve put shreds in my pasta sauce, coins in my stir-fries, and half-moons in my salads. I do love zucchini–especially the way it grows rampantly without much attention–but it requires some creativity to use up. So I turned to my bookshelf.

Having rejected all the recipes I found in other baking books, I settled on the Zucchini Parmesan Bread. It apparently came originally from a book called Eggplant and Squash: A Versatile Feast(1976)–which sounds like something I could use. The recipe includes some honey, but also has grated onion and sounded like a good combination of flavors. Since I can’t actually follow a recipe exactly as it’s written, I made a few changes along the way and it still turned out quite deliciously. We’ve already almost finished eating it, so I’ll need to make another zucchini recipe soon. Perhaps a lasagna from my cookbook, using long strips of squash instead of noodles?

Zucchini Parmesan Bread

Adapted from The Bread Winners Cookbook

Yield: Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour [I used all-purpose plus 1/4 cup oat bran]
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
• 5 teaspoons baking powder [this is correct; it's a dense batter]
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 medium zucchini, shredded [I used 2 cups, patted dry]
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature [I used 2% milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar]
• 1/4 cup honey
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons grated onion

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan [I used a 6 x 3-inch round cake pan plus 1 mini loaf pan]. In a bowl, mix the flour, cheese, baking powder, baking soda, slat, and shredded zucchini.

In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, honey, melted butter, eggs, and onion until smooth. Then add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients all at once and mix until just blended.

The batter should be somewhat dry. Spread in the loaf pan [I smoothed the top with a spatula] and sprinkle extra cheese on top. Bake for about 1 hour [28 minutes for the mini loaf], until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly before slicing. Store in a zip-top recloseable bag.

Love zucchini? Check out these recipes from fellow bloggers:

Zucchini Noodle Salad Recipe with Spicy Peanut Sauce by the Vintage Mixer.

Zucchini Cakes by The German Foodie.

Stuffed Zucchini – Iraqi Style by Foodista.

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