Anyone who’s ever successfully grown zucchini knows that it starts out as fun and games with little zucchinis coming up maybe some nice squash blossoms, and then all of a sudden you’re drowning in more zucchini than any person can possibly eat and if you don’t harvest them they become frighteningly large. And it’s not like tomatoes than can be canned as sauces or chili peppers that can be dried. This is a perennial issue that my parents face in Vermont and I enjoy the progressive photos they send of more and more larger and larger zucchini. You can really see the panic growing. I want to help.

We all enjoyed the zoodles phase, and I’m sure many of us still have a spiralizer hiding somewhere in the cabinets, but I’d like to go for some more substantive options. Starting with my grandma’s “zuccini bread” recipe from The Moses Brown Cookbook. (A cookbook that I cannot find online). I think because you have to drain the zucchini for this recipe it’s a great option for your later season squashes where they start getting a little drier and starchier.

Original Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 c vegetable oil
• 1 ½ c sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 c grated and well drained zucchini
• 2 ¼ c sifted flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c raisins
• 1 c walnuts

Instructions

Beat eggs; stir in oil, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and zucchini. Sift flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. Blend with egg mixture. Add raisins and nuts. Spoon batter in two 8x5x3 pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

From “the Moses Brown Cookbook”

Reflections

So I think the Moses Brown Cookbook is actually a cookbook put together by the families of the Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island. I don’t think anyone in my family attended there but my grandparents were both educators who founded the Mountain School in Vermont based on Quaker principles so I imagine that’s how they were connected to Moses Brown.

You can use this recipe as is, just mix dry ingredients together instead of sifting, I mostly just rewrote for clarity and added nutmeg. The original recipe says walnuts, I think any nuts are fine, pecans are just a little bit more accessible here in Texas. You can feel free to still use raisins, they’re just not for me. You could also substitute chocolate chips. I used lemon zest to brighten this up a little but, if you want to use the rest of the lemon immediately you can use the lemon juice with some powdered sugar for a lemon glaze.

I wasn’t sure what order to put grating, draining and measuring the zucchini but I figured the most consistent point to measure would be after grating and draining so that’s what I went with. It’s a heaping two cups and approximately 400 grams but I’m sure will vary slightly as the texture of your zucchini does. It is not a super strict scientific measurement.

Size wise this will be a large single loaf, the pan is very full so I put a sheet of aluminum foil in the oven just to catch any drips (ended up being a non-issue but I would recommend doing this just in case). I’m having a recurring experience where my grandma’s loaf recipes claim to be two loaves and end up being one so if you have smaller loaf pans definitely go for two loaves. Or if you like a flatter loaf because this one rises quite a bit in the oven. If you end up doing two loaves bake for 50-60 minutes.