Parmesan Zucchini Bread

Now many of you may think, zucchini bread, that’s a sweet one, right? Not so much, we’ve decided to try out a savory recipe. Preparing this bread falls somewhere between a quick bread and a yeast bread – it requires some kneading to pull it together, but doesn’t need time to rise before baking.

Parmesan Zucchini Bread

2 cups self-rising wheat flour (or 2 cups all purpose wheat flour + 2 ½ tsp of baking powder)
2 cups self-rising white flour
1 1/2 tsp mustard powder (dried mustard)
1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 tbsp cold butter, diced

1 2/3 cups parmesan cheese, grated

1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated

1 tsp dried thyme

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 - 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine flours, mustard powder, salt and pepper in a large (or deep) bowl.

Lightly rub butter into mixture until mixture starts to resemble breadcrumbs (same sort of process you use when making pastry dough).

Stir in the parmesan, zucchini, and thyme. Mix until zucchini is well coated.

Add in the eggs and enough milk to form a dough (we suggest you start by stirring then use your hands to bring it to a dough consistency. It’s a good idea to add in the milk in increments until the dough comes together.

Due to sticky dough-covered hands, we don't have any mid-process photos to share, but you get the idea from the next image.

Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough smooths out and becomes quite malleable.

Shape the dough into one big loaf, or you can do two smaller loaves like we did, and put it on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cut three long deep slashes in the top of the unbaked loaf then bake for 40-50 minutes until it’s risen and had a nice golden brown color.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Couple of Notes

The type of parmesan you use can affect the flavor of the bread. We used a pecorino romano parmesan which tends to be pretty pungent, but still a great combo with the zucchini. If you want a milder flavor, we suggest using a milder type of parmesan.

As mentioned, the bread is somewhere between a quick bread and a yeast bread not only in preparation, but in texture as well. It’s not a light bread, but has a nice dense quality to it. The parmesan gives it a grainy texture but the zucchini keeps it moist.