Riana’s Zucchini Zest Bread for my people on Threads

Riana’s Zucchini Zest Bread

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I was on Threads tonight and they asked.

Ingredients (1 loaf)

Wet

• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 1/2 stick melted butter or cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Seeds from 1/2 Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean (split and scraped)
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 cups finely grated zucchini, lightly packed, not squeezed dry
• 1–2 teaspoons very fine zucchini zest (from the peel of a small zucchini)

Dry

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour (or more whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, or dark chocolate chunks

Finish

• 1–2 tablespoons brown sugar, for sprinkling on the hot loaf

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment; lightly oil the sides.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, butter/olive oil, honey, and coconut sugar until glossy.
3. Add vanilla extract, then split 1/2 vanilla bean, scrape the seeds, and whisk the seeds into the wet mixture until you see little black specks evenly throughout.
4. Whisk in the yogurt until smooth.
5. Fold in the grated zucchini and the zucchini zest, mixing just until everything looks evenly speckled and loose.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir gently just until no streaks of dry flour remain; fold in nuts or chocolate if using. Do not overmix.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake 45–55 minutes, until the top is deep golden and a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs.
9. As soon as the bread comes out of the oven and is still hot, sprinkle a thin, even layer of brown sugar over the surface so it softly melts and creates a subtle, crackly glaze.
10. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then lift onto a rack. Let it cool until just warm, then slice and serve so you get the melty sugar top and tender crumb in every bite.

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