Evaune’s Zucchini Bread PLUS How to Preserve Grated Zucchini in the Freezer

A wise woman once said, “When life gives you zucchini, make zucchini bread.” Okay, I made that up, but it’s true (and if it’s the only time I’m called wise, I’ll take it — even if it’s by myself).

Click here if you want to skip the backstory and tips for zucchini bread. If you want to know how to freeze it for later, Click here.

GARDEN ESSENTIAL

Gardening is a great way to save money if your water supply isn’t too expensive. We usually had irrigation. Our family loves squash — both summer and winter. Steamed zucchini, sauteed zucchini, zucchini with onion and bacon, zucchini topped with cheese, and any other way Momma could think to fix it. 

Summer squash are a staple in the garden. Zucchini is an easy-to-grow green summer squash. In fact, if you don’t pay attention, one day you’ll have zucchini the size of your thumb, and the next day it’ll be the size of a dachshund.

Runaway Zucchini

We didn’t always have a garden, but when my dad planted, we usually had so much zucchini, we couldn’t give enough away. We’d leave it on people’s doorstep only to come out of church to a box full of it in the backseat of the car.

Someone would knock on the door, and we’d peek out the window. “Turn off the TV. It’s the Nobles, and they have zucchini! Shhhhhh. They’ll know we’re home.” Everybody ducked for cover. Unfortunately, they’d leave it on the doorstep, too. That’s the kind of neighborhood I grew up in. Everyone shared. After a while, getting zucchini became as bad as getting lice, which our neighborhood also shared about every two or three years. (That happened when you had 100 kids under the age of eighteen living within two blocks of each other. But that’s another post.) 

Then there were the years nobody grew zucchini because they assumed everyone else was.

Creative Recipes

Mom came up with many recipes — even zucchini pineapple. (I’ll share that another day.) Zucchini doesn’t freeze well, except for grated, so that’s what we’d do with the Godzillucchini. The seeds and skin are really tough when it gets that size, but if you seed and skin it, you can grate it and freeze for the winter months. Fresh, grated zucchini is great in all kinds of recipes, by the way.

Today, I’m sharing her recipe for zucchini bread, which is perfect for that frozen, grated zucchini. She wrote it in the 1970s. I can tell because the recipe card is classic for the day. And seeing her handwriting makes me feel warm and cozy inside. It’s a visual hug from her.

Making Zucchini Bread

Prep/Grating Zucchini

Some of the tips I’ve learned over the years is that I don’t need to peel the zucchini, If they’re oversized and the tough texture or the visual of green skin bothers you, go ahead. But when I grate them, I find the skin is so small it doesn’t make much difference for zucchini bread. I’m all about saving time! That’s also why I use an electric food grater/processor when I’m grating large batches. If you’re doing one recipe, any hand grater will work. Who wants to clean all parts when you’re only grating two cups? Learn more about grating and storing zucchini here.

Mix

I use a Bosh mixer, but before I had that, I just used a hand mixer. Beat eggs till they’re fluffy. This will help the zucchini bread be light. Add oil, sugar, vanilla, and squash and mix. Tip: the lid for most vanilla bottles are a teaspoon. I actually tested that with my bottle lid. I don’t like to get my teaspoon wet and then measure the dry ingredients, so I always use the lid.

A lot of recipes call for combining dry ingredients before adding, but I just dump everything at once – because Mom did and I’m about saving time. Did I mention that? If you don’t have a flour sifter, no worries. I don’t either — never have. Momma showed me how to simply use the handle of your (wooden) spoon to stir and fluff up your flour in the container before measuring. In the video, I measure everything into little glass bowls. In real life? I don’t do that. 

Bake

Mom always used shortening to coat her pans. It’s inexpensive. I can afford the baking spray, so I use that. You have to use enough or your bread will stick. This recipe calls for 2 large loaf pans. Use whatever pan you want for the situation. You can make cupcakes or a cake or mini loaves or . . . you get the idea. Just remember, you have to adjust your time. The less batter, the less time. Bake at 350 F. and test after 45 minutes. It usually takes an hour.

This time I wanted to share my zucchini bread with neighbors, so I used my small pans and a medium. I should have done less time and tested with a toothpick. I did 45 minutes. Too long! It was still moist and yummy in the middle, but the ends were too crisp and dry. So . . . I wasn’t about to make another batch just to look good. Keepin’ it real.

EVAUNE’S ZUCCHINI BREAD

Ingredients

Instructions

Beat eggs till fluffy. Add oil, sugar, vanilla, and squash. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Mix again till no lumps appear.

Bake at 350 degrees F for one hour or until done in center.

Substitute carrots for squash if desired.

Frost zucchini bread with glaze or carrot cake frosting – i.e. cream cheese, powder sugar, vanilla.

(You can substitute or combine shredded carrots in this recipe as well.)

PRESERVING

The best success my Momma ever had with preserving zucchini was freezing it. When it’s bottled, the texture was too mushy for us to enjoy. Frozen in chunks wasn’t bad, but still cooked up mushy due to the high water content. As it freezes, the water expands and bursts the cells, making it mushy when it thaws. The smaller you cut it, the better. Grated, frozen, and later used in zucchini bread is the best use, in my opinion.

Pick and wash your zucchini. If they have turned into Godzillacchini, cut them in half and scoop out the seeds. You can peel before or after you cut in half. If they’re still relatively small, I don’t bother seeding or peeling, since there’s a higher nutritional value that way.

I use a machine to grate my zucchini, but you can do it by hand. Usually I’m doing several zucchini at a time and put all the flesh in a large bowl. Because of the high water content, you need to squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the grated zucchini before bagging. I use cheesecloth for this. 

After removing as much liquid as you can, measure your zucchini into 2 cup portions and place in freezer bags. Smooth flat to remove air and make it easier to store in the freezer. TIP label your bags with the contents and date BEFORE filling.

Zucchini Bread all year long

The best part of planting and harvesting a lot of zucchini is having zucchini bread all year long. I preserved this about 18 months ago, and it’s not freezer burned yet, but I need to get it used before it gets that way. The water content of zucchini makes these ice crystals form after a while. I would think two years is about the max it will store well.

 I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. And whenever my children are lonely for their grandma, they can pull up this post and see her handwriting, make her recipe, and feel her love. I love you, Momma!

YOUR TURN

Have you ever tried zucchini bread before? Do you have a recipe that brings a family member closer? If you’ve preserved zucchini some other way, how did it turn out? Did anyone ever “gift” you zucchini?