Garlic Yeasted Savory Zucchini Bread
Fluffy and light with a delightfully fragrant garlicky flavor, this savory zucchini bread is prefect for sandwiches, toast, and snacking! Plus, another use for all that zucchini you might have hanging around. If you’re in the mood to make your own bread and haven’t boarded the sourdough train yet, this simple loaf is perfect for all your savory bread needs. Or should I say all your bread kneads?
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Why Can’t I Stop Buying Zucchini?!?
In order to solve a problem, you first have to recognize that you have a problem, so I’m on step one here. I just buy too many zucchini. To avoid going to grocery stores, get fresher, better produce, and to help support local farmers and growers, I’ve taken to frequenting several little farm stands. And naturally, zucchini and summer squash are often at these farm stands. And as the season goes on, the prices just go down. At first I was getting them for $1 each, so I’d get three or four. Next, a quarter would buy you a squash, so naturally I’d pick up around 8. These days I often see them for 10 cents, and I can’t seem to walk out of there with less than 15 zucchini and summer squash. They’re just so ripe and perfect, and so stinking cheap! I just can’t stop myself, and if we’re being perfectly honest I don’t really want to. Yes, coming home from a hike with 15 zucchini might be a little ridiculous, but it won’t last. When summer comes to a close, I’ll be back to expensive, less ripe, boring grocery store produce, so I might as well bask in the glory of New England summer squash while the sun shines.
Top off your Garlic Zucchini Bread with one of these!
- Briny Summer Burdock Stalk Tapenade
- Smoky Vegan Onion Jam
- Simple Wild Garlic Recipe- Allium vineale Hummus
- Vegan Fondue with Caramelized Onions and Ale
- Sweet and Savory Tomato Jam Recipe
- Avocado, Persimmon and Beet Tartare
- Seasonal Vegan Spinach and Garlic Scape Pesto
- Black Walnut and Maitake Mushroom Pâté
Making This Garlicky Savory Zucchini Bread
Really, this is just your average, run of the mill yeasted bread with a good punch of garlic and some zucchini for good measure. We use the zucchini as a liquid component so once you’ve got your yeast activating, blend or process your zucchini with the garlic until it’s smooth. After that, combine it with the remaining ingredients except for the flour. Add the flour a little at a time, because depending on how much moisture your zucchini had you might need more or less flour. When your dough has come together and is no longer sticky, it’s time to knead and then let it rest and rise. Try and find a warm spot for it to rise- I like to put mine in the oven, with the heat off but the oven light on for a gentle warmth. Once it’s done rising, pull out your savory zucchini bread, punch it down, and start shaping it. I’m really no expert at bread making, but I decided to try for a round loaf. I shaped it by folding the edges down and under, and repeating until the loaf felt firm and taut- think of it like your stretching the sides and top down and hiding all the extra under the loaf. After a second, shorter rise it’s into the oven after scoring the top with a sharp knife. You’re bread is done once it’s browned, dry, and hollow-sounding when you tap it.
Garlic Yeasted Savory Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ lb. zucchini (Approx. 1 large)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. instant yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- Crack of black pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 5-6 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Combine the instant yeast and sugar along with ½ cup of warm water in a large bowl and set aside. Add the zucchini and garlic in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.
- Once the yeast is frothy, add the puréed zucchini, olive oil, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast and combine. Then add 4 cups of flour, and use a wooden spoon to combine. Once it becomes hard to incorporate with a spoon, switch to your hands, and add more flour ½ cup at a time until you have a smooth, not too sticky dough. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and somewhat glossy.
- Oil your mixing bowl, and making sure the dough is lightly oiled, cover with a clean cloth, and let rise in a warm place for about an hour. After the hour is done, punch down the dough and kneed a few more times. To shape the loaf, tuck the edges underneath, turning and repeating the tucking movement, until the top of the loaf becomes stretched and fairly taut. Place it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, cover again with your clean cloth, and allow to rise for a further 20 minutes. While your dough is rising, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Before putting your loaf in the oven, use a sharp knife to slash a few cuts into the surface of your loaf (optional), and place in the oven. Cook for 35 minutes until golden, and the bread has a hard shell. Remove from the oven and let cool fully before cutting.
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This looks really yummy! Can you taste the zucchini though or is it more of a garlic flavor?
Hi Lauren, it’s definitely more of a garlic flavor- I find that zucchini has a pretty mild flavor, so you get more garlic here.
I plan to try this, but with whole wheat, or white whole wheat flour. Anything I should know?
Thank you for taking the time to create this recipe, it looks wonderful.
Hi Susan,
I haven’t tried this particular recipe with whole wheat flour myself, but I do generally find I get a denser bread when using whole wheat flour in breads, although the whole wheat does give a lovely flavor. You could try a mix of white and wheat flour. I hope it works out well for you!
Hi Val, do you have any idea whether this recipe would work if baked in a cast-iron Dutch oven?
Hi Lee, I’ve never tried it myself, but I don’t see why not. Let us know how it turns out!