Ingredients

• 1 pound (450g) zucchini ~ 2 medium zucchini
• 6 tbsps (85g) unsalted butter
• 2 tbsps (30ml) vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar, plus 1 tbsp for zucchini
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ tsps vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp almond extract, optional 2/3 cup (65g) sliced almonds, optional

Directions

• Center a rack in the oven and heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Butter an 8-inch-by-4-inch loaf pan, and dust it with flour. You can also butter and line it with parchment paper; leave an inch or two hanging over two sides makes it easy to remove after baking.
• Trim the stem ends of the zucchini, then grate using the largest holes on a box grater or the largest grating disk from a food processor.
• Transfer the grated zucchini to a colander and toss with 1 tbsp of sugar. Rest the colander over a bowl to catch the excess liquid that drains from the zucchini. Set aside for 20 minutes.
• Melt the butter with the oil in a medium bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the butter and oil. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each egg. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
• Squeeze the zucchini by hand to thoroughly wring out any excess moisture, then fluff it up a little so it is not in big clumps. (Discard the liquid.) Stir the zucchini into the wet ingredients.
• Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, stirring between each addition. Stir in almonds. Note: I like to save a handful of almonds to sprinkle on the tops of the zucchini loaf before baking.
• Spoon the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top. Scatter the reserved almonds over the top, then bake until a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, 45 to 65 minutes.
• After 35 minutes in the oven, check the bread and almonds for color. If browning too quickly, loosely cover the loaf with aluminum foil. Cool the zucchini bread in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn it onto the rack to finish cooling.

Baking tips

• Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on top of two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. This helps even baking and makes getting the loaf pan into and out of the oven easy.
• To make banana zucchini bread, add 1 very ripe banana to the wet ingredients before mixing with the dry ingredients. Heavily speckled or even black bananas are best.