Sep 02

When a girlfriend of mine gifted me a HUGE zucchini from her garden, I was ecstatic – however unsure what to do with THAT MUCH ZUCCHINI. The thing was huge, seriously. I took a photo of it, but I’m not sharing because it just looks awkward. Ha! 

I haven’t always loved zucchini, but I HAVE always loved zucchini bread. The strange thing is, I’ve never made an attempt at making bread on my own, until recently – it scared me. Seemed hard, or something. I overcame my fear with a craving and a huge zucchini fruit staring me in the face from atop my kitchen counter.

I googled recipes for “vegan zucchini bread” and one of the first (and best) recipes that showed up is a recipe from one of my favorite blogs – Post Punk Kitchen. The coolest thing about the recipe is that it calls for a ripe banana and I just so happened to have 3 ripe bananas hanging around. (literally!)

This recipe calls for “applesauce” and I like to make my own. It’s simp, chop an apple, and pulse it in a food processor until it’s a “saucy” consistency. If it’s not completely smooth, it’s ok. You can still add it to the batter. Just be sure to not add any more apple”sauce” than the recipe calls for – if you do, your bread may be too moist and dense. I only know this because I added extra apple”sauce” to my second loaf and it was more dense than my first loaf – however, still yummy.

I have a fancy attachment on my food processor that grated my zucchini with the touch of a button. If you do not have this fancy attachment, you can certainly grate the zucchini by hand. 

I added raisins and a few nuts to my bread but you can play around with add-ins. Chocolate chips, any type of nuts, dates, and dried fruits would all work. You get to choose & customize!! 

Print

{vegan} Zucchini Banana Bread

Author: peace. love. quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 large very ripe banana
• ¼ cup applesauce
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¾ cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom or allspice
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• ½ cup raisins (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease an 8×4 metal bread pan with Earth Balance butter.
2. In a mixing bowl, mash the banana well, until no large chunks are left. Add the applesauce, canola oil, sugar, and vanilla and use a strong fork to mix well.
3. Add the grated zucchini and mix in.
4. Sift in 1 cup of the flour, the cinnamon, cardamom or allspice, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine. If you are adding the walnuts or raisins, do that now. Then add the final ½ cup of flour, and mix just until no visible flour is left.
5. Transfer batter to the greased pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick or knife. If the bread needs more time to bake, turn heat down to 325 F and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Slice and serve!

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Tagged with → Bake • baking • banana • Bread • food • healthy • recipe • squash • vegan • zucchini 

Love

Crista

Rocky Mountain National Park – a 9 mile hike to Ypsilon Lake Peach Rhubarb Crisp {vegan & gluten-free}