Mrs. Regueiro's Plate: Zucchini-Blueberry Bread

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Zucchini-Blueberry Bread

Gardening has been a nice relaxing hobby for me, and it's very rewarding to enjoy the fruits of your labor. It also is rewarding when you get to share your fruits with others, and I've been lucky enough to have a coworker share the wealth of his zucchini. It's one of those vegetables that I don't have the space for, and I do not want half of my garden invaded by zucchini. Luckily for me, there have been several harvests of his zucchini and I have been enjoying them in salads, stir-fries, and finally in this easy quick bread recipe.

Earlier in the month, I won a fantastic giveaway from The Novice Chef for Chobani Greek yogurt. I received a batch of Peach, Strawberry and Blueberry Greek yogurt and they all are pretty delicious and awesome all by themselves. However, I wanted to incorporate my lucky yogurt into this zucchini bread because I thought it would perk it up a bit with a blueberry touch. Blueberry yogurt and zucchini are a perfect match for each other in this quick bread. I loved how the zucchini bread turned out and it was very moist and rich-tasting. If you make additional batches it will freeze well, but I might eat them all before that happens!!!

Zucchini-Blueberry Bread
Adapted from Delish & The Way the Cookie Crumbles
Yield: 1 loaf
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 cups zucchini, grated
¾ cup sugar
½ cup pecans, chopped coarse
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup blueberry Greek yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for garnishment

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375°F and set the middle rack in the oven. Spray a little bit of cooking spray into a  9x5 bread pan, and set aside.

In a large bowl fitted with a kitchen towel, prepare the zucchini. Shred 2 large zucchini with a box grater and place into the large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and drain all the excess fluid.

Toast the pecans on a baking sheet for 5 minutes and allow to cool. Chop into smaller pieces.

In the KA mixer bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and slowly whisk until combined. Add the wet ingredients in a small bowl: sugar, blueberry greek yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter and stir until combined. Set aside.

Stir the zucchini, pecans and the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Garnish the zucchini bread with the turbinado sugar making sure to have an even coat.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until golden brown and make sure to check the doneness with a toothpick. Midway cooking time make sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Review: Who knew that eating vegetables would be so good? LOL. I loved the sweetness of this zucchini bread and it was a great way to use up the additional Greek yogurt and extra zucchini.  I might have to try the other yogurt flavors with the zucchini bread as well, too. Make your batch today, and I'll hopefully attempt to "freeze" a couple batches if I can! ;-)
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