Bake me a bread as fresh as you can.
Roll it, pat it, mark it with a B,
Put it in the oven for garden and me."
Sorry, I couldn't help it and make a mash-up. (It's my inner Gleek singing.) My three year old niece loves singing this old nursery rhyme to me, and it coincidentally rhymed with Patty Pan squash. Patty pan squash is another vegetable that I have been enjoying from my coworker's over-abundance of zucchini. It seems strange enough and looks like a gigantic UFO but it is quite similar to other squash and is very mild in flavor when cooked.
Patty pan squash in pretty interchangeable with other zucchini, so it has a milder color compared to typical green zucchini. The one similar thing to note about Patty Pan is the water content so you have to take heed to drain as much water as you can before preparing this quick bread. You will love the sweet cranberries, nutty walnuts and mild and flavorful spices combined with the patty pan zucchini....it's madly addicting.
Adapted from Simply Recipes
Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3 cups patty pan (zucchini), grated
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, garnishment
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set the rack in the middle of the oven.
Spray two 9x5 loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, add together the dry ingredients - flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well. In the KA mixer bowl, add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Gently fold in the shredded zucchini and melted butter to the wet ingredients.
Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients a third at a time and mix well. Fold in the dried cranberries and walnuts in the zucchini bread.
Divide batter equally into loaf pans. Garnish with 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar over both breads.
Bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes prior to moving to cooling rack. Enjoy!
Review: Another fantastic quick bread recipe using local resources because I love cooking "green." The spices give a beautiful rich and darker color to the bread compared to my last batch of zucchini-blueberry bread. You might almost confuse it as pumpkin bread, but this patty pan bread is sinfully delicious...and healthy.
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, garnishment
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set the rack in the middle of the oven.
Spray two 9x5 loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, add together the dry ingredients - flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well. In the KA mixer bowl, add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Gently fold in the shredded zucchini and melted butter to the wet ingredients.
Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients a third at a time and mix well. Fold in the dried cranberries and walnuts in the zucchini bread.
Divide batter equally into loaf pans. Garnish with 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar over both breads.
Bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes prior to moving to cooling rack. Enjoy!
