Why is my zucchini bread mushy?

Question

I just followed this recipe. My only changes were to add walnuts, and some allspice. After the 50 minute baking time, it was still quite gooey, so I kept it in the oven, checking every 5-10 minutes. After half an hour of no progress, I gave up and pulled it out of the oven. It was still quite gooey.

The only place I can think of where I may have had too much moisture going into the batter, would be with the 3 cups of zucchini. It was rather wet... does "well packed shredded zucchini" mean I should pack it so tightly as to remove some of the moisture? Surely not.

Should I just keep baking the bread until it's done, or should I change the recipe somehow?

Answer 1

It could require more time, thanks to extra zucchini. It's a good idea to drain your zucchini right after grating. Not completely, just some of that collects at the bottom of the bowl. That, and a regular loaf pan of zucchini bread can take up to 90 minutes.

Answer 2

Following the recipe exactly doesn't guarantee the same result. There are many ingredients that may vary from different type. From that recipe, these ingredients come to mind as ones that can add water and make it mushy:

• Butter has different ratio of fat and water
• The eggs and the lemons have different ammounts of liquid in function of their size
• Zucchinis may have different water content in 3 cups (well packed doesn't dictate the quantity of water)
• The flour may have different absorbant properties.

I find that baking things too much may alter the result and taste. Next time keep in mind to modify the quantity of ingredients to fit your ingredients on hand; this should help along the final result so (the dough) isn't too mushy.

Here are some specific tips to aid your success:

• You can try to add more flour to compensate for less absorbant flour or excess water
• You can drain completely the water from the zucchinis
  • Then, after mixing the other ingredients, add that water in the bowl until the dough has the right consistency