Bebehblog Bakes: Healthy Zucchini Bread
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I freaking love zucchini bread, even if it is healthy zucchini bread. Which is sort of weird, since I don’t really like zucchini. But when this time of year rolls around and the grocery store/farmer’s market starts selling them 3 for a $1 I find myself with a whole fridge full. Last year I did a bit of incredibly rare planning ahead and shredded up half a dozen zucchinis, popped then in the freezer and then made bread all fall whenever the urge hit.
When I posted about our lack of healthy food choices I got a TON of great suggestions, including one from my friend Ernie Bufflo who said healthy baked goods like zucchini bread were the only “junk” food she kept in the house. Which seems like an excellent idea on the surface, except that even zucchini bread is bad for you if you eat the entire loaf in one sitting.
So I set off across the internet to find a recipe for healthy zucchini bread. But because I am NOT willing to sacrifice the tastiness of actual bread for whatever the totally vegan, gluten-free, no-calorie sweetener, enriched with twigs and sticks option is, it’s not truly healthy. We’ll call it healthier.
Suzanne’s Healthy (er) Zucchini Bread
(I started with this recipe but used several commenter’s suggestions as well as my own adaptations)
Please ignore the ridiculously large bag of baking soda. I read a list of like 1,001 things to do with baking soda and planned to clean the whole house or make my own tooth paste or cure cancer with it or something. So far, I’ve used 2 tablespoons for baking.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons vanilla
2-3 cups zucchini, grated (2 medium sized zucchini)
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Raw sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl & mix until smooth. Stir in zucchini. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and stir stir stir.
Go ahead and stick your finger in it. You know you want to. Just remember the raw eggs and don’t complain to me if you end up puking out your eyeballs. That was a stupid thing to say in the middle of a recipe.
Pour into muffin tins or loaf pans that you’ve sprayed with non-stick spray. Add the SUPER SECRET INGREDIENT: Sprinkle the top(s) with a little raw sugar*. When doling out the batter, remember it rises but not an enormous amount so don’t skimp on filling them up. For loafs, bake at 350 for 60 minutes. For muffins, 350 for 25 minutes.
Get in my face
See the sugar on top? SO GOOD.
With a little *real* butter it’s a fantastic breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner.
I’m not going to lie, using whole wheat flour instead of all white changes the texture a little, but not so much I would know if I didn’t know. Y’know what I mean? You could also get away with using a little less sugar – maybe 1 1/2 cups white plus the brown – but you might want to add a bit more flour to keep them from getting to liquidy. Overall I am deliciously pleased with these. Any baked good that contains both a fruit and a vegetable counts as health food in this house!
*Super Secret Ingredient:
I buy it in the little packets so I can toss some in my tea. I only used 2 packets for all 27 muffins.
Tags: baking, bebehblog bakes, food, healthy food, healthy zucchini bread, kitchen, recipes, vegetables, zucchini bread, zucchini muffins
That looks delicious!!! When can I come visit??
mmm yum, never heard of making zucchini bread but I am going to give it a go.
DELISH! I’m totally inspired. Haven’t made zucchini bread in ages. I’ve been on a banana bread kick.
Thanks for sharing!
So, inspired by your tweets about zucchini muffins, I decided it was time for me to make some. At like 10 pm last night. I left them sitting on their cooling racks in the middle of the counter. When I awoke this morning, all but 4 were gone. My damn dogs ate the rest. Then they sat by their food bowls as if it were time for breakfast! HA! Consider those muffins your only meal for the day, evil puppies!
[…] Also, we have an overabundance of zucchini for our monstrous, prehistoric looking plant. I made Suzanne’s delicious zucchini muffins, I have frozen at least 5 quarts of shredded zucchini, we’ve been eating it sauteed with […]
[…] Posting a recipe for, say, zucchini bread even though there are already a zillion recipes online for zucchini bread is not plagiarism. […]
They look beautiful. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
[…] zucchini bread w/ cream cheese. It was delicious. Seriously, Look no further than Suzanne’s “Heathy(er) Zucchini Bread” recipe for your zucchini bread needs. 12:30-1:30 p.m. I decided to treat the girls to lunch out, […]
The bread is looking so delicious it make my mouth water. Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely try it.
I see you mention loaf panS – plural. Is this recipe for two loaves or just one. Thanks!
Yes, it makes 2ish loaves. I usually make one pan and the rest as muffins, but you could split it evenly in two pans.
This bread was fabulous. I love that it calls for applesauce and less fat than most recipes. This really is a keeper. Thanks so much for sharing.
Can I substitute something else for the cinnamon?
Sure! Just use more of something else, like nutmeg or allspice. It will be a little different but still delicious!
Can’t wait to try this with the zucchini I have (hopefully) growing! BTW- try sprinkling some of the ridiculously large bag of baking soda on your carpet then vacuuming it up for a cheap deodorizer, and use a cup in your bath with two cups of Epsom salts and some either lavender leaves or green tea packets for a detox bath. I go through one of those bags every month!!!
You have a great sense of humor and that’s what kept me reading. I have a good zucchini recipi but will try yours.
i can use oat flour instead of whole wheat flour??
I’ve never baked with oat flour but I don’t see why not? It might be a little denser.
thanks for your honest answer i´d ask you if you use oat meal ´cause in my country (venezuela) its cheaper ;)