Summer Zucchini Bread

Every summer gardener faces the same glorious problem. You turn your back for three days and suddenly you're buried in zucchini. They hide under leaves, growing to the size of baseball bats when you weren't looking. This bread is the answer to that abundance, and it's been the answer since American home bakers figured out that grated squash makes quick breads impossibly moist.

The technique here is simple but non-negotiable. You'll mix your wet ingredients in one bowl, your dry in another, then combine them with as few strokes as possible. Overmixing develops the gluten in your flour and turns tender bread into something resembling a doorstop. Ten to fifteen strokes with a wooden spoon. Leave it lumpy. Trust me.

I've made this bread hundreds of times over the years, and I've learned a few things worth passing along. Young zucchini, no thicker than your wrist, have fewer seeds and more flavor. Don't squeeze the moisture out of your grated squash the way some recipes insist. That moisture is what makes this bread stay fresh for days. And use real cinnamon, the good stuff from a spice shop that still smells like something when you open the jar.