Maybe the sweetest way to eat zucchini! This zucchini bread is tasty, and also healthier than your traditional slice. I made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe, and my family didn’t even notice. Even the neighbor kids thought it was delicious.
Let’s be real here. Zucchini bread is more like cake than it is like bread. Even so, I think it can be part of a balanced breakfast. I usually pair it with eggs or yogurt. It also makes a great snack. And it sneaks some dark green vegetables into your kids too! I found that because my kids love zucchini bread, they were more willing to try the zucchini on their dinner plate.
We usually plant a zucchini plant in the back yard every year. And so we usually make a whole lot of zucchini bread over the summer. I give it away to neighbors, take it as dessert to BBQs, and share it with the kids and their friends. But I never liked how greasy the bread was. It would leave a thick oil print on my cutting board, and it felt really heavy.
Normally, I leave desserts alone. There are not many redeeming qualities to cups of sugar and butter combined together, so when we make it, we just enjoy it. However, since we do consume a significant amount of zucchini bread over the course of the summer, I decided to experiment a little.
I made two simple changes:
Cut the sugar by a ½ cup (original recipe calls for 3 cups)
Replaced some of the oil with applesauce (original recipe calls for ¾ cup oil)
It baked just as beautifully, and was moist and delicious. But the best part is that my family was none-the-wiser. These 2 changes end up saving about 40 calories per slice, which adds up pretty quick!
And look—no more grease print on my napkin!
Recipe:
Zucchini Bread
Serving size: 1 slice (regular loaf) or 2 slices (mini-loaf)
Servings per Recipe: 34
Ingredients
4 ½ cups flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 ½ cups sugar
3 ½ cups zucchini (shredded)
¼ cup oil
½ cup applesauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of loaf pans. (This recipe makes 2 large loafs, and 2 mini loafs).
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine, and set aside.
In another bowl, combine beaten egg, sugar, shredded zucchini, oil and applesauce. Stir to combine.
Add to flour mixture all at once. Stir to combine. Spoon batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Can serve hot, or chilled.
Nutrition Facts Label for Zucchini Bread:
