I bought a bunch of zucchini from Sunflower Market last week with the intention of making one of my fav breads, and Ry and I finally got around to it yesterday. I like to make mine less sweet than I usually find it at a cafe, so I found a healthy recipe and tweaked it a bit to cut down on sugar and kick up the subtle taste of the zukes.
Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread:
2 and 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 Cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/4 Cup sugar [I used Organic evaporate cane sugar]
1/4 wildflower honey [bought from our local farmer’s market!]
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Cups grated zucchini
Preheat oven to 325 degrees [I did not adjust this for high-altitude baking and the loaves came out to a normal height]. In a medium bowl, sift together first 5 ingredients [Flour through Cinnamon]. Set this aside, and in another large bowl combine the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Beat these well [Most recipes call for an electric mixer, but I use a wire wisk and it works great] before adding the zucchini. Add the dry mixture as you stir until everything is combined [but don’t over mix]. If you want to add some extra crunch to your loaves, you can throw in some chocolate chips and/or walnut pieces at this point. I did not have any on hand, but I’ve done this in the past and both are tasty!
Spray 2 regular size loaf pans with nonstick spray on the bottom and sides. I go an extra step and sprinkle flour onto these greased pans to make sure nothing sticks. Divide the batter between the two, and place in the center of the oven to bake for approximately 65-75 minutes.
When they’re done, you can run a knife around the edge to release the bread if needed, although if you’ve floured the pans ahead of time this usually isn’t necessary - they will slide right out when turned upside down after they’ve had a chance to cool. Seal in a container or plastic to avoid loosing moisture. OR just eat them all right away!
Here are the loaves on their way out of the oven:
Behold the deliciousness, cooling under an open window:
**If you want to make this recipe vegan, all you need to do is replace the eggs with an appropriate vegan substitute.
Thanks to http://hiphostessblog.com/2008/07/20/whole-wheat-zucchini-bread/ for this recipe, which I altered slightly [no applesauce, less sugar].
All photos by Ryan Luikens
