Delicious Zucchini Bread

Both of my boys were sick recently (tis the season) and so they refused to eat is anything at all. We offered them everything from cheerios to popsicles and it was a feat trying to get them to agree to try something. Luckily one thing worked - zucchini bread. I think it reminded them of banana bread aka dessert. I figured if they were willing to eat something sweet at least I can try and sneak some veggies in, hence the zucchini.

I know most people don’t think quick breads as healthy and they’re not meant to be eaten on a daily basis but as something to temp little ones when they’re sick or just a treat that’s not so guilt inducing, it will do. Here I’ve upped the amount of zucchinis, packing them in as much as possible and lowered a bit of everything else that normally makes these breads less healthy, aka the sugar! With all the zucchini in to this recipe, it keeps the bread moist and soft.

Nutritional Tidbit: The lowly zucchini is often overlooked for its nutritional value including important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium! What a great substitute for bananas in the typical loaf or bread. Swap out sugary bananas for zucchinis and you’re also getting more protein!

Ingredients:

2 cups zucchini, packed down, peeled
1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar, or a little less if you don’t mind it being less sweet
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cinnamon (if you’re not a huge fan of cinnamon you can skip or just use less, but it does give it an extra flavour boost!)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 8” x 4” loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Peel the outer layer of the zucchini, if you don’t mind a bit more texture in the loaf then you can keep a bit of the outer skin. Using a mandolin, shave the zucchini so they become matchstick sized. Set aside.

In medium bowl, pour in oil or butter, egg, sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk until everything comes together. Continue to whisk for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in baking soda and baking powder until combined. Do no beat or whisk the batter anymore at this point or else the bread will become dense.

Pour flour in half the flour and combine, add in the cinnamon (if using), then the rest of the flour. Continue to stir. The batter will be quite dry at this point which is required because of how much zucchini we are using in this recipe.

Add in the zucchini and slowly mix using a spatula until there are no more lumps.

Scoop in to loaf pan and place in to oven for 55-60 mins.

Check with a toothpick and make sure there is no wet batter in the loaf, if there is continue to bake for another 5-10 mins until toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.

Enjoy!