Let’s talk zucchini. It’s delicious. I like it every which way; grilled, roasted, spiraled, you name it. But the very best way is in the form of bread. Yummy spicy chewy delicious bread. Zucchini bread is the perfect bridge between summer and fall. What better way to use some of that extra summer squash?
This recipe is everything you want out of a zucchini bread but with a few healthy swaps in case you are still looking to keep that trim figure into the fall. Even if you aren’t, none of the swaps sacrifice flavor so you still get the indulgence of a true zucchini bread. Seriously, you look great!
Let’s get down to business
Get out two bowls. One for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients. I know that this means you have to wash another dish, but really this time it is necessary. Add all the dry ingredients to one bowl and whisk them together. And to the second bowl, you guessed it, add the wet ingredients and whisk them together.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches. This helps the batter from splitting. Incorporate the ingredients fully before adding the next batch.
Let’s talk healthy choices for a minute.
- Instead of 1 cup of oil, half is swapped for applesauce. This makes the bread really moist!
- Only half the sugar is used from a traditional quick bread recipe. Trust me, you won’t miss it.
- You don’t have to add the nuts if you want a lower calorie bread.
- This can be made vegan if you swap the egg for a flax egg!
- Flax egg= 1tbsp ground flaxseed + 2.5 tbsp water (mix and let sit for 5 minutes)
- This recipe makes one loaf, it can easily be doubled if you want some extra.
- Hot tip: You can freeze the loaf as well. Just cool completely, wrap in plastic and place in freezer bag. I guess this was a cold tip. Yikes.
Now add your zucchini and mix for about a minute. If you are adding some kind of nut add them at this stage. Any kind of nut would taste delicious in this bread, but I would recommend walnuts or pecans. Yum!
Now add your batter to a prepared loaf pan and bake for about 60 minutes. You may need a little longer depending on your oven. A toothpick or cake tester should come out clean. My bread needed about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Cool your loaf in the pan for about 20 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Enjoy this on a brisk fall day with leaves blowing around you as you drive to go apple picking with a pumpkin spice latte. Or on a Tuesday in July. Whatever.