The zucchini or courgette is a summer squash that is usually harvested when immature and about 6-8 inches in length. Zucchini squash can be dark green, light green, or yellow in color.

I never knew about zucchini while growing up in Bangladesh, but I found a video showing that they are starting to grow it there. I first tried zucchini in the United States and have come to love it. I am now growing it in my garden and it has been doing extremely well. It doesn’t take much effort to grow and I get 2-3 per day. I love making all sorts of dishes from this wonderful summer vegetable. I also like to stir fry or grill it with a mix of different vegetables or meats. I use it in savory tarts as well as a variety of sweet breads.

Today I am going to use zucchini to make zucchini bread. I did some research on which zucchini bread recipe is the most popular. I came across this one but decided to change a few ingredients around (I always find something to tweak!). I think this is best zucchini bread I have ever eaten. The two loaves of bread that I made were gone by the next afternoon. Next time you are looking for a zucchini bread recipe I hope you give this one a try!

Ingredients

• 2 cups zucchini, grated
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup chopped pecan, plus 1/4 cup for topping (optional)
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground clove
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. turbinado sugar to sprinkle the top

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and lightly flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Set aside.

Mix all dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside. Whisk eggs and oil in a large bowl.

Add grated zucchini and vanilla. Use a rubber spatula to combine everything together.

Add dry ingredients in batches to liquid ingredients and mix till combined. Gently fold in the nuts.

Divide the batter evenly into two loaf pans. Sprinkle turbinado sugar and pecans evenly over the top of the loaf.

Transfer the loaf to a middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean.

Cool the cake for about 10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely.

Makes 2 loaves

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to email me or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram.