Once upon a time, I had a bread maker. I used it pretty often, but eventually it gave out and started to give me fits. So. The era of fresh homemade bread in my house ceased since, as I’ve said before, baking tends to scare me. Alas… with Fall in full effect and Winter just around the corner, I thought… I’d try my hand.

Before, when I used my bread maker, I stuck to the basics. I never ventured out into the world of flavored breads. Not really anyway. Over the past couple of years though, I started to enjoy the homemade bread from ‘the bread man’ at our local Farmer’s Market. It was a game changer.

That’s why I decided to step outside the box a bit and make this cheddar and chive zucchini bread. At first, I was a little skeptical of the zucchini. I was scared that it would make the bread to wet or dense. But, that wasn’t the case at all!

I used the finest grate on my cheese grater to shred this zucchini, which let it blend perfectly into the dough. I also wrapped the zucchini in a paper towel for 5-10 minutes while I prepared the other ingredients and aspects of the dough. This allowed a lot of that moisture in the zucchini to be absorbed and thus didn’t leave me with a soggy mess of dough.

The cheese was some that I grated by hand on a thick grate because I really wanted the cheese to be marbled in through the bread in perfect melty bits of surprise goodness. And the chives on top? They add color and flavor.

Alternatively, you could also mix the chives into the dough!

Step-by-Step Photos:

Nutritional Claims: Balanced • Sugar Conscious • Low Potassium • Kidney Friendly • Pescatarian • Peanut Free • Tree Nut Free • Soy Free • Fish Free • Shellfish Free • Pork Free • Red Meat Free • Crustacean Free • Celery Free • Mustard Free • Sesame Free • Lupine Free • Mollusk Free • Alcohol Free