This piece was written on Dharawal Land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.
Zucchini is my favourite vegetable, and it seems like everyone agrees with that sentiment, because there’s some zucchini mania going on in my inbox. Ok - maybe I’m being dramatic, but two of my favourite publications have both come out with zucchini-based recipes this week. Check out Vasudha Viswanath from We Ate Well's savoury zucchini bread and Jack McNulty’s 3 zucchini salads on Vegan Weekly.
I am firmly in the savoury/salty camp, most of the time (go let Jess from the scone archives know if you fall into the salty or sweet camp), but every now and then I’ll want something sweet like a pastry or a cookie. Oh, and bubble tea, of course. Ok, chocolate too. And cookies. Maybe I like sweets more than I let on. And so, rather ambitiously, I always think I have the ingredients to bake whatever I’m craving - I never do.
The usual sequence of events then plays out as follows: I spend way too much money on ingredients I’ll use once, and then usually fail exponentially at the baking. I’ll cry, and then I’ll eat a bit, Blake will politely eat some too, and then I let the rest of whatever I’ve made go mouldy. Not very sustainable, right?
That’s because cooking - to me anyway - is like art, and baking is like science. I gave up my dreams of becoming a marine biologist when I realised it wasn’t actually all about swimming with whales, and a lot about science. I love and respect what science does for us every day, but if I have to look at a periodic table (or weigh flour) I will probably pass away.
When cooking, I frequently veer off course from the recipe, taking twists and turns that I can confidently know will improve the recipe to my taste. I rarely have the patience to follow a recipe word for word, and it usually turns out well, and the benefits of taking risks outweigh the danger of messing up.
Unfortunately, when baking, going off course has some dire consequences. I still do it though. I live, but I don’t learn.
So this recipe goes out to all the people who can’t bake for sh*t, but really want something sweet. Or those who have heaps of zucchini to use up. Or, a bit of both. It’s really hard to mess this one up.
ingredients.
wet ingredients:
1/4 cup melted vegan butter (recommended) or neutral oil
1/3 cup plant milk (I used soy)
1 1/2 medium zucchini, grated should equal 1 cup
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 cup sugar (I used brown)
dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour (white or whole wheat)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger or allspice, optional
1/2 cup chopped vegan chocolate and brazil nuts or walnuts (recommended for texture)
how to.
Preheat the oven to 180c and line a pan with baking paper. You can also make these into muffins, but I would keep an eye on the cook time and adjust accordingly.
Combine all “wet” ingredients, mixing well to incorporate. Then add the dry ingredients and DO NOT OVERMIX, or it will be dense! Even if it looks a little lumpy, it’s still fine.
Fold in chocolate and nuts if using.
Pour into a pan and cook for 35-45 minutes, check to see if it’s ready with a fork or toothpick. If it comes out clean, it’s ready.
Let cool and slice!
Are you more of a cook or a baker? An artist or a scientist? Let me know in the comments below.
Okay, definitely a cook and more of a whimsical artiste (aha!) on this end. Also, I dig flax in zucchini bread so this sounds even better! (and it looks great)!
I’m going to try this. It sounds delicious. Nice change to a tea loaf or banana bread. 😋
I love courgettes, usually savoury, simply fried with too much black pepper. Tonight they went in a pasta with broad beans and mint.