Zucchini bread recipe: Social Butterfly columnist shares great grandmother's recipe, video

Kristi K. Higgins, Petersburg Progress-Index
·2 min read

If you're wondering what to do with all that zucchini, here's a family recipe for you to try. Great Grandma Mabel Johnson loved to bake and her zucchini bread was out of this world.

I'm not sure if she created the recipe herself or acquired it from someone else, but I do know this... it's delicious! I treat it like a dessert since it's very cake-like.

Fun fact... my late granny's kitchen was in a home that was once the State Savings Bank of Knierim in Iowa. Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow, made an illegal withdrawal from the bank in 1934.

I've made Grandma Mabel's zucchini bread numerous times. It's easy and still tastes great after being frozen for up to four months. Recently, I discovered a video that is a game changer. It showed how to extract fluid from freshly grated zucchini.

Social Butterfly columnist Kristi K. Higgins bakes zucchini bread in a 9x13 pan.
Social Butterfly columnist Kristi K. Higgins bakes zucchini bread in a 9x13 pan.

Before I came across the cooking hack, I used to squeeze grated zucchini with my hands. Pieces would always fall from between my fingers into the liquid collected below. Here's how to wring out summer squash.

Place grated zucchini in the center of a 100% cotton, non-terrycloth, kitchen towel. Next, pull the corners together and twist to keep zucchini inside the towel. Above a bowl or the sink, squeeze the living daylights out of the secured squash until no more liquid escapes. Select a towel that you don't mind getting stained.

Grated zucchini
Grated zucchini

Zucchini bread: Great Grandma Mabel's

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 eggs

  • 1 cup vegetable oil

  • 2 1/2 cups sugar

  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 2 cups peeled or unpeeled grated zucchini

  • 3 cups sifted flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

  • 1 cup chopped dates

Zucchini bread made by Social Butterfly columnist Kristi K. Higgins. She used her great grandmother's recipe.
Zucchini bread made by Social Butterfly columnist Kristi K. Higgins. She used her great grandmother's recipe.

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • In mixing bowl, beat eggs until light

  • Add oil, sugar, vanilla and zucchini

  • Stir until well blended

  • In separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon

  • Slowly add combined dry ingredients into first bowl of blended ingredients

  • Fold in pecans and dates

  • Pour into two loaf or one 9x13, greased and floured pans

  • Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes

  • After 45 minutes, check bread with toothpick [If clean, remove from oven. If not, check again every five minutes.]

Social Butterfly columnist Kristi K. Higgins's great grandmother's zucchini bread recipe.
Social Butterfly columnist Kristi K. Higgins's great grandmother's zucchini bread recipe.

I like to add orange or clementine zest to my zucchini bread. Feel free to substitute pecans for walnuts and raisins for dates.

Read this story at Progress-Index.com to watch me demonstrate how to remove liquid from grated zucchini and more. Bon appétit, y'all!

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— Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.

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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Zucchini bread family recipe: Watch Social Butterfly share cooking tip