Author Notes: This quick bread was initially inspired by a lone summer squash sitting on my counter. The idea of adding the crystallized ginger came from Molly Wizenberg’s book A Homemade Life, in which she adds it to her favorite take on banana bread. After tweaking the zucchini bread recipe from the Joy of Cooking, this delicious loaf came to life. It’s subtly sweet and spicy, and its golden color brings a bit of brightness to the table. —duclosbe1
Makes: one 9×5 inch loaf
Ingredients
-
1 1/2
cups all purpose flour
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1
teaspoon baking soda
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1
teaspoon baking powder
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1/4
teaspoon ground ginger
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3/4
cup sugar
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2
large eggs, beaten
-
1/2
cup vegetable oil
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1/2
teaspoon vanilla extract
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1/2
teaspoon almond extract
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1/2
teaspoon salt
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1 1/2
cups grated summer squash, squeezed of excess moisture
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1/3
cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
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1/3
cup almonds, finely chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and ground ginger.
- Blend sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, both extracts, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients. Fold in squash, crystallized ginger, and chopped almonds with as few strokes as possible. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake until the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan; 35-45 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan to cool completely on the rack.