Garden Harvest Vegetable Bread Loaf for #BreadBakers

Welcome to #BreadBakers! We are a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Renu from Cook with Renu invited us to make breads with vegetables for the month of September - and what fantastic timing! Tis the season of farmer's market bounty, and there has been a lot of squash and zucchini in my kitchen recently.

This bread is amazing - seriously. It bakes two good sized round loaves so I shared one with my dad and stepmom and they raved about it. The texture is so perfectly soft, with a gorgeous crust. The color is stunning from the paprika and vegetables blended in. It toasts up deliciously with a little butter, or as the base for an egg sandwich or avocado toast - and also holds up well for sandwiches. It's the perfect accompaniment to soups and stews as well! We will definitely revisit this loaf - it's perfectly versatile and a truly delicious and flavorful loaf of bread.

See all of our vegetable loaves we're sharing with you today:

• Butternut Squash Sourdough Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Carrot Sandwich Bread by Ambrosia
• Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets by Food Lust people Love
• Cranberry-Pecan Pumpkin Bread by What Smells So Good?
• Garden Harvest Vegetable Bread Loaf by Making Miracles
• Potato Rosemary Focaccia by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Purple Pain de Mie by A Messy Kitchen
• Spinach Spiced Sourdough Discard Bread by Cook with Renu
• Tomato Garlic Biscuits by Palatable Pastime
• Vegetable Focaccia by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Bread by Sneha's Recipe

Garden Harvest Vegetable Bread Loaf 

Ingredients
3 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
1 1/2 TBS salt, divided
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 TBS granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
2 TBS melted butter
2 cups grated carrot (about 3 large carrots)
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 TBS dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
Olive oil, for greasing the bowl

Directions

1. Place the grated zucchini in a colander tossed with 1 TBS of salt in the sink, and allow it to drain for about 20-30 minutes before proceeding with recipe. After it has drained, squeeze out as much excess liquid by hand as possible.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Stir and set aside for about 10 minutes, until yeast is active and foamy.
3. Add in remaining 1/2 TBS salt, melted butter, grated carrot, 3 1/2 cups bread flour (to start), drained zucchini, oregano, and paprika. With dough hook, set speed to medium until a dough ball forms, and then allow to knead for about 3 more minutes.
4. Add additional flour if dough becomes too sticky.
5. Scrape dough out, add some olive oil to the bottom of the bowl, and return dough ball to bowl, turning once so both sides are coated in oil. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm location for about 60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
6. Get a baking sheet and line with parchment paper or a silpat. When dough is ready, punch it down, dived in half and roll each half into a rounded loaf. Place both dough rounds on the prepared baking sheet, cover with a tea towel and place again in a warm place. In about 45-60 minutes, check for readiness. When you press gently on the dough, it should spring back quickly.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the loaves on the baking sheet for about 30-35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Tops should be golden brown, and internal temperature should be about 200 degrees.
8. Cool on a cooling rack before slicing and serving.

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Ventures