My 78th experiment: Zucchini cottage cheese bread

My first time testing with zucchini bread gives me very fond memories of its making. With experience, I am trying to do this quick bread again, this time, with less moisture, with added cottage cheese, and with small loaf pans.

Recipe: Zucchini cottage cheese bread (2 small loaves)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup KAF whole wheat flour
- 1 cup KAF bread flour
- 2 tp baking powder
- 1/8 tp baking soda
- 3 TB sugar
- 1+1/2 tp salt
- 2.5 TB olive oil
- 2 cups packed with shredded zucchini (about 1.5 to 2 small zucchini)
- 1/2 cup 1% milkfat cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure:

1. Sieve together whole wheat flour, bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and nutmeg.

2. Beat two eggs into the dry ingredients. Add cottage cheese, 2 TB oil and mix.

3. Add zucchini, a handful at a time, into the bowl and mix. When the water from the zucchini has moistened the flour, add more zucchini.

4. If the batter appears too dry, allow it a minute or two to rest. During this time, water will come out from the zucchini to hydrate the batter.

5. Use the remaining olive oil to grease two small loaf pans (7x3). Preheat oven to 350F.

6. Scoop batter into loaf pans. Flatten top.

7. Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes. When the tops of the loaves are golden brown (about 20 minutes), cover tops with foil. Done when loaves' internal temperature reaches 190F and thermometer comes out clean.

8. Allow to cool for a few minutes before detaching from pan with a plastic spatula. Let sit for a few hours before serving.

Results:
1:52pm, all ingredients;

2:00pm, zucchini shredded, with leftover:

(rested until 20 minutes before oven is available)

2:30pm, eggs added to sieved dry ingredients:

2:31pm, cottage cheese added:

2:33pm, 1/3 of zucchini added:

2:38pm, 2/3 of zucchini added:

2:39pm, all zucchini added:

2:41pm, final batter:

2:46pm, batter scooped into mini loaf pans:

2:46pm, heights of batter in pans:

2:47pm, topped with shredded Parmesan cheese:

2:48pm, baking started at 350F:

2:58pm, loaves baked 10 minutes:

3:07pm, loaves baked 19 minutes:

3:35pm, loaves baked 50 minutes, reaching 190F, but crumbs still a bit soft to hold thermometer:

3:36pm, thermometer coming out almost clean:

3:37pm, loaves in pans:

3:38pm, loaves' heights in pans:

3:38pm, loaves' tops in pans:

3:42pm, loaves' corners:

3:43pm, loaves' heels:

3:43pm, a loaf's bottom:

3:44pm, loaves' tops:

3:44pm, a loaf's side:

6:12pm, all in a day's work:

9:10pm, slicing a mini-loaf:

9:10pm, contrast between center and heel slices:

9:10pm, center slice:

9:10pm, heel slice:

Next day's dinner:

Observations:
1. For each cup of flour, about 1 tp of baking powder is needed.
2. Cottage cheese is acidic. So I use 1/8 tp of baking soda in addition to the baking powder.
3. Small loaf pans tend to give better quick breads. The oven spring is more spectacular. Moreover, the sides tend not to over-brown when the center is not yet cooked.
4. Zucchini is full of water. Therefore, I practically need no additional water. However, I need time to mix the ingredients. Water comes out of the shredded zucchini during mixing. Patience is greatly valued here.
5. This time, the internal temperature of the bread reaches 190F and the thermometer comes out clean.