Thistle's Summit

Blog

In the Kitchen with Marti: Brown Sugar Zucchini Banana Bread

 
IMG_0133.jpg
IMG_0119.jpg

I have a rather uncomfortable confession to make.

While I love cooking, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it.

(Hides face in hands waiting for the shame tidal wave)

I never feel overwhelmed in the moments when I am preparing a Dutch baby pancake for guests, brewing pour-over coffees, furiously scrambling eggs or whipping up an oat-based lemon poppyseed muffin for a gluten-free guest.

I LIVE for those moments. They are when my soul feels fuller than I could have dreamt.

It comes in those moments when Ash and I are working behind our computers creating marketing content for one of our three businesses for the 12th hour of the day and there is a perfect zucchini sitting on the counter taunting me, reminding me that it’s lived there for two weeks. The green oblong beauty begs me to turn it into fritters or a beautiful shaved salad dressed lightly in a garlic lemon vinaigrette. It calls out to be paired with a grilled pork chop, or even sautéed in a pan with minimal effort. SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

There are moments when my brain feels too overwhelmed to slow down from updating Instagram or preparing a press release to just honor an ingredient that my partner worked hard to grow. It seems easier to nourish myself with my hundredth egg sandwich of the week.

I imagine food feels that way for some of you all too.

Even if you love it with all of your heart like I do.

Like we do.

This recipe was born out of a need to stare that zucchini down and tell it “Today is your day to shine!”
It is a spin on classic banana bread that we find to be the perfect (and easiest) way to honor an ingredient that we have grown with our own two hands and reward our sweet tooth. Hope you enjoy!

-M

Brown Sugar Zucchini Banana Bread

  • 1 1/2 cups white unbleached flour*

  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 3 medium VERY ripe bananas mashed (about 1 1/2cups)

  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

  • 1 large farm fresh egg*

  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil cooled

  • 3/4 cup shredded zucchini

  • 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or sugar in the raw (optional)

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8x4-inch loaf pan and set aside.

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

  • In a large bowl, combine mashed bananas, brown sugar, egg, and coconut oil. Stir until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir gently with a rubber spatula until flour is mixed in. Grate zucchini on the largest setting of a box grater. Squeeze grated zucchini in a paper towel to remove excess liquid. Gently fold the zucchini into batter.

  • Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar, if using. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Mine was done right at 55 mins. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and place on wire rack to cool completely before slicing, if you can wait that long!

  • Note on flour: You can certainly make this with whole wheat flour, just use 1/4 cup less. We only use King Arthur or Hudson Cream Shot Patten Flour. Good flour makes all of the difference! Trust me!

  • Vegan Option: Swap the egg out for a flax egg and you are ready to rock! We are lucky enough to get all of our eggs locally from Over the Moon Farm, a farm run by two badass queer women, so we know their chickens are treated with lots of love and care.

  • Wait until your bananas look ugly AF, then they will be perfect for this bread.



Martha Payseur