Classic Zucchini: Zucchini Bread

Zucchini shreds ready to freeze.

I bought a couple big zucchini at the farmers' market because they were only 50 cents each.  But then I needed to figure out what to do with them.  Typically I'll shred them up, pack the shreds into my handy silicone KitchenAid muffin pan to freeze, and throw it into whatever I'm making.
  
Baking up a Mexican casserole? Add some zucchini!
Making spaghetti?  Add some zucchini!
Heating up a bowl of oatmeal?  Add some zucchini!
(These are all true things that have happened in my house!  Don't tell my husband though, he might get suspicious of every dish, especially since I recently tried to sneak mushrooms past him.)

Slice of zucchini bread with butter.

I browsed my recipes to find a way to take advantage of fresh zucchini.  I was planning to make a savory cheddar & zucchini muffin, but I found I didn't have the plain Greek yogurt called for in the recipe and I figured my usual substitute of applesauce wouldn't be appropriate here since it wasn't a sweet dish.  I thought about some mini sweet muffins, but decided on a lighter version of zucchini bread since I made zucchini bread last year and used it to make an excellent French toast that my son and I both wanted to finish.  I'm a nice momma, so I let him have the last piece.   

Inspiration

All Recipes Mom's Zucchini Bread

I skipped the nuts in this recipe since I don't like the texture difference in soft baked goods.  I also lightened up and "healthified" the recipe.  I used a combination of white and whole wheat flour and added some flax seed meal for nuttiness and protein.  A reviewer that said they increased the baking soda and baking powder to ensure it was light-textured rather than dense and heavy, which I needed to achieve since I was using whole wheat flour.  Instead of cinnamon I used Penzey's baking spice, which is a nice substitute of warm spices and makes it taste a little more interesting.  I removed the oil and replaced all of it with unsweetened applesauce.  And instead of white sugar I wanted all brown sugar for a deeper flavor.

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsps Penzey's baking spice
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 4 oz unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract (my homemade stuff, the store-bought bottle was all dried up when I went to grab it)
• 1.5 cups grated zucchini 

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Zucchini on the chopping block (newly beheaded!)
and the dry ingredients in the background.

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients starting with flour all the way through baking spice.

Breaking out the homemade vanilla!

In a separate large bowl, mix the wet ingredients, eggs through zucchini.

Liquids.

As always, pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and gently stir until just incorporated. Bake 40-60 minutes or until pick comes out dry.

Liquids plus dry ingredients in the loaf pan.

Finished loaf of bread.  Quite dark from the brown sugar.

Verdict 

Excellent healthified recipe!  

Oh my gosh! This is seriously the best zucchini bread I've made. Using baking spice instead of cinnamon was perfect, and replacing the oil with all applesauce was great too.

We eat snack breads like this with some butter on top and Husband Jeff adds a sprinkle of sugar. Sonny D didn't want to try it the first time we cut into the bread even though I told him it was dessert (only a minor lie!).  The second time I pulled the loaf out to cut some slices for a morning snack for Husband Jeff and I, he wanted some, but only ate a bite and then said he was done.  Then he wanted more, but I had already eaten the rest of the slice he had said he was done eating.  So I cut him another half slice.  Yet again, he only had a bite and said he was done.  I didn't really mind since I finished that piece as well.  I think he was expecting something different. 

This recipe had to cook the full amount (60 minutes) before it was done, but I made a lot of substitutions, so I can see why it might take a little longer.   Plus I feel like any loaf of bread would take 60 minutes to bake anyway.

It ended up that this zucchini bread didn't last long enough to be turned into French toast.  I found a huge zucchini in the "for free" area at the office, so another loaf might be in order.