Zucchini cheese muffin slab
Recipe video above. This is a savoury cheese muffin with zucchini in slab form which is a handy big-batch recipe to serve lots of people without fussing with muffin tins (pain to clean!). An excellent shelf life of 5 days, economical to make, this will easily serve 15 to 20 people and is great to tuck into lunch boxes or serve for morning tea.Don't be alarmed by the thickness of the batter, it gets a lot of moisture from the zucchini as it bakes!
Servings: 15 - 20 people
Ingredients
- 2 zucchinis (300g / 10 oz, ~17cm/7" long) (Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 2 cups (tightly packed) shredded cheese at room temperature , like cheddar, tasty, colby, I use pre-shredded (Note 2)
Decorative topping:
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch black pepper
- 2 pinches sea salt flakes (optional, for sprinkling at end)
Dry ingredients:
- 2 3/4 cups flour , plain/all purpose
- 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carbonate of soda (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Wet ingredients:
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed using a garlic crusher or finely grated using a microplane
- 1 cup milk , preferably full fat, at room temp (I microwave 20 sec)
- 50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter , melted, cooled
- 3 tbsp neutral oil (canola, vegetable, peanut)
- 2 large eggs (55g/2 oz each), at room temperature
- 1 tsp white vinegar (Note 4)
Instructions
Preparation:
- Sweat zucchini - Grate 2 of the zucchinis using a box grater. Toss with the salt then set aside for 20 minutes. Grab handfuls and squeeze out excess liquid (no need to be super forceful here but make a bit of effort!). You should have 2 very tightly packed cups. Set aside.
- Decorative zucchini - Finely slice the 3rd zucchini however you want, to decorate the surface. I cut the zucchini in half then into long strips. Thin coins is also nice. Toss with the oil and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced). Lightly grease a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" metal pan with butter. Line with paper with overhang (so you can lift it out later).
Bake:
- Batter - Whisk the Dry ingredients in a large bowl using a handheld whisk. Make a well in the centre. Whisk the Wet ingredients in a separate bowl until combined. Pour the Wet into the Dry ingredients. Mix using a wooden spoon until the flour is mostly incorporated but there's still flour visible.
- Add-ins - Add zucchini and cheese then mix through. Some flour lumps is fine. Minimise mixing else the crumb will be tough. The batter will be thick - the zucchini will sweat more in the oven.
- Bake - Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Top with the zucchini slices. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool - Sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Use the excess paper to slide the slab onto a cooling rack then remove the paper. Cool for at least another 10 minutes.
- Cut into pieces (3 x 5 pieces, or 4 x 5). Nobody ever says no to a smear of butter either, especially if served warm!
Notes
1. Other veg - I haven't tried this with carrot and other vegetables because my gut tells me it will be a little too dry. Because even though we sweat the excess water out of the zucchini (don't skip this step), even more comes out as it bakes. Zucchinis are 90%+ water!!!
2. Cheese - I know it sounds weird to ask for room temperature cheese! But this batter is quite thick and if the cheese is fridge cold, it will really bring down the temp of the batter so it won't rise as well. PS I use pre-shredded. No need to grate your own for this recipe.
Mozzarella - Doesn't have enough flavour for this recipe, so if you use this, add 1/2 cup shredded parmesan.
3. Baking soda - This really is best using both baking powder and baking soda (I tried all sorts of combinations to try to use just one instead of both). But it really is better using both - baking soda makes the crumb a little softer. However, still VERY good using only baking powder, use an extra 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and no baking soda.
4. Vinegar - Gives the baking soda a kick start to make the muffin rise. Similar effect that yogurt, buttermilk and sour cream has in cakes etc. You can't taste the vinegar. Plain white vinegar is best but any neutral clear vinegar will work.
5. Storage - stays fresh for 3 to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container, but serve at room temp or better yet, warm. Can be stored 2 days in the pantry as long as it's not too hot in your house. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition per serving assuming 15 servings.