This zucchini bread is the perfect way to use up an abundance of zucchini and of sourdough starter! It's soft and moist on the inside, crisp on the outside; it's loaded with cinnamon and nutmeg and has so much good tang from the discard; and (maybe best of all!) you don't have to drain the zucchini.
We will have this bread on repeat at my house for the rest of the summer!
I love zucchini season because it means lots (and lots and lots and lots) of zucchini bread. It's pretty much the only form my family tolerates zucchini in, so when the zucchini in our neighbor's prolific garden is ready and we get to benefit from all of his hard work, zucchini bread makes up more of our diets than would be advisable by any professional.
The texture of this bread is so good. I find sometimes quick breads can be overly moist to the point where they're just kind of chewy and blah, but I love this one because it has enough crumble to it and crisp in the crust that no textural alarm bells go off while I'm eating it.
And the taste! Of course there's lots of cinnamon here, and a bit of nutmeg to make it spiced and delicious. But what really makes this stand apart I think are the butter and Greek yogurt (which make the bread so rich and also keep it moist) and the sourdough discard (which give it a hint of tang that somehow makes all the other flavors stand out more).
How to make
It's one of my favorite things when a recipe I love to eat is also one I love to make, you know? Sometimes, even if I love a food, if the recipe is too cumbersome or complicated, I just don't have it in me to bother. This one is so easy though!
Here's what you do:
Melt a stick of butter. I love quick bread recipes that start like this. You just know it's going to be good! Let it cool a smidge.
Whisk the sugar, yogurt, starter, eggs, and vanilla in with the butter until smooth.
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir until small pockets of dry flour are evenly dispersed. Shred ½ pound of zucchini and fold it into the batter. The dry lumps will get mixed in here.
Transfer the dough to a greased and floured 8 by 4-inch loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until it's baked through and browned on top and a toothpick poked into the middle of the loaf comes out clean or with moist crumbs on it.
Give the bread 10 minutes to cool in the pan before inverting to release (I would say this is the hardest part of the recipe!), then keep cooling on a wire rack, or dig in, or do a little bit of both.
If you have trouble getting your bread out of the pan - this happened to me when I greased the pan and didn't flour it. Slide a knife around the perimeter of the pan to loosen it. If all goes well, it will come out easily. If not, you may need to coax it out.
More Quick Breads With Sourdough Discard
If you love making quick breads with your discard, might I also suggest this discard banana bread and this discard pumpkin bread.
Sourdough Discard Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- ½ cup sourdough starter discard
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ pound zucchini (about 1 medium or 2 small zucchinis), shredded (this will be about 1 cup shredded zucchini)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 by 4-inch loaf pan.Combine butter, sugar, yogurt, starter, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir until mostly incorporated - there will still be pockets of dry flour at this point. Fold in the shredded zucchini. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes on the middle rack, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the loaf comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs on it.Cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting to release. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Alison Beynon says
Love the recipe, nice and easy and quick. Question though,..I have every loaf pan under the sun but no 8x4 like you say. I also clicked the link and it took me to a 10x5,USA like I have. Which one do you bake in?
mandyjackson says
Oh funny - I only have 8x4 and I’m learning that’s not a common size! You can use whatever your usual loaf pan is, just start checking 10 or so minutes sooner to see if the bread is done. And thanks for letting me know about the link - I’ll have to update it!