Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the bread:
- 2 cups (13 oz / 370g) shredded zucchini, packed — do NOT wring out the moisture
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil (canola, olive oil, or melted unsalted butter all work)
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or table salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
For the cinnamon sugar swirl:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the top:
- 2 tablespoons raw, turbinado, or granulated sugar
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray, line with parchment paper for easier removal. Set the pan aside.
In a small separate bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1½ teaspoons of cinnamon. Stir until combined and set aside. This is your cinnamon sugar swirl mixture, you want it ready before you start the bread batter.
Using the large holes of a box grater, shred your zucchini until you have 2 packed cups. If you have a food processor with a shredding disk, that works too and is faster for large batches. Either way: pack the shredded zucchini into the measuring cup. Do not squeeze out the liquid. Do not blot it with a paper towel.
Mix the wet ingredients, in a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded zucchini, oil, eggs, both sugars, pure vanilla extract, and salt. Mix with a fork until well combined.
In a medium sized bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Whisk until well combined.
Then add the dry indredients to the wet ingredients, stir until you no longer see any dry flour streaks. But no more than that, overmixing causes dry bread.
The batter will be thick, that is what you want.
Pour or spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle the entire bowl of cinnamon and sugar over the top of the batter. Now spoon the rest of the batter onto of the cinnamon mixture and smooth the top.
Use a butter knife or a skewer to drag it through the batter in a zig zag to swirl the cinnamon. You want to have a layer of cinnamon.
Sprinkle the top of the batter with turbaned or granulated sugar.
Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Baking time can vary slightly depending on your oven, so start checking at 50 minutes. The loaf is done when a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. The top should be deep golden brown.
If the top is browning too quickly before the center is done, tent the pan loosely with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes of baking time.
Place the loaf on a wire rack and let it cool completely in the prepared pan. It is best the next day.
Notes
I was a little over zealous in my zig zags and the cinnamon swirl is all over the bread in pockets not in an even layer.