A few weeks ago, I was up at 4:30 am to take my sister to the airport. Trips to the airport are exciting and fun at that time of day if you’re the one going on vacation. I was not. Sad. Thankfully, my normal wake-up time is 4:50 am and I’m typically a morning person, so I didn’t mind too much (although getting in to work at 5:30 am and working for 10 hours is quite another story!). When I came downstairs to meet my sister, I found her rummaging through our refrigerator. Turns out she was looking for this zucchini bread.
I’d make the bread the weekend prior and apparently she’d been over at some point and sampled the bread. Silly Julia, she should’ve known baked goods don’t last much longer than 48 hours in our house! This bread was no exception—I received the recipe from a co-worker’s mom’s friend (you got that?) who happens to be a blog reader. Not only did she pass the recipe along, she also sent a zucchini for me to bake with. I went home that evening and immediately made this recipe. The applesauce and whole wheat flour make this healthier than other versions of zucchini bread that I’ve seen out there and the bread is tender and moist. I halved the recipe below and made 2 mini loaves, but next time I’m making the full recipe. The more of this, the better…especially since I think I’ll need to share more with Julia!
Looking for other ways to bake with zucchini? Try Zucchini Banana Bread, Mini Zucchini Cakes with Walnuts, or Carrot Zucchini Muffins with Candied Ginger!
Healthified Zucchini Bread
from eat better america
*makes 2 (8x4 inch) loaves
Ingredients:
-2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (approximately 2 medium)
-1 cup unsweetened applesauce
-1/2 cup canola oil
-3/4 cup egg beaters or 3 eggs
-2 tsp vanilla
-1 cup sugar (cut down from the original 1 1/2 cups)
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
-3 tsp ground cinnamon
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray the bottoms of 2 (8x4) inch pans (or 4 mini loaf pans) with cooking spray.
2. Mix zucchini, applesauce, oil, eggs, vanilla, and sugar until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredients except the walnuts until well blended. Fold in walnuts.
3. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake 50-60 min (or 25-35 min for mini pans) until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing loaves and cooling completely on wire racks.
This post is linked to Eat at Home.
