They’re out there and they’re coming – those overzealous gardeners who plant way too much zucchini. You can hear the pleading in their voices – “You want some zucchini? We have lots!”

Or maybe you ARE the overzealous gardener. Either way, zucchini abounds and it needs to be dealt with. Yes, you can stir-fry, stuff, and spiralize it, but one can only eat so much zucchini.

My suggestion is to make a healthier ZUCCHINI BREAD and freeze the loaves so you can enjoy your bounty months from now.

This recipe is packed with zucchini, but let’s not get crazy – I said “healthier”, not “healthy”. Even though I swapped the vegetable oil for olive oil and the whole eggs for egg whites, there’s still sugar in the bread so bear that in mind when slicing out the portions.

Note:  This recipe makes 20 muffins.  While it’s a little more work to grease, fill, and remove the muffins from a muffin pan, the benefits are portion control, ease of grabbing however many you want from the freezer, and the whole muffin is basically an end piece (my favorite part of quick breads).

2nd note:  I noted both weight and cup measurements. Weighing dry ingredients is a far more accurate way of measuring than using measuring cups, but I included cup measurements for those of you who don’t have a scale. (Put digital kitchen scale on your wish-list!)

HEALTHIER ZUCCHINI BREAD – make 1 loaf or 20 muffins

• 7½ oz (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
• 2¾ oz (1/2 cup) whole wheat flour
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1½ pounds zucchini
• 4 egg whites
• 8¾ oz (1 + 1/3 cup) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 T distilled vinegar
• optional: 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped & lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit. 

In a medium sized bowl, blend the flours, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and walnuts, if using. Set aside. Using the large holes of your grater, shred the zucchini. (You can use your food processor or do it by hand.) You’ll have about 5 cups of zucchini. Take a handful of the zucchini and place it in the center of a clean tea towel. Gather the edges together and twist the ball firmly to extract as much liquid as you can. Do this with all the zucchini. (It’s better not to put too much zucchini in the towel at one time.) Discard the liquid, unless you can think of a use for it. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites, sugar, oil, vanilla, and vinegar by hand. Stir in zucchini. Pour in the dry ingredients and gently blend until the flour is incorporated – there can be some flour showing. (Over mixing quick breads can lead to a tough loaf.) Pour batter into an oiled metal (or glass, if you don’t have metal) loaf pan and smooth top. Bake 60-70 minutes (mine took 65 minutes), until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit in the pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack. The loaf needs to cool at least 1½ hours to firm up before slicing. Honestly, try and restrain yourself – you’ll get nicer slices if you wait.