Let me go ahead and stop you right now from thinking this is going to be a healthy post. It’s a delicious post. While yes in fact I substituted applesauce for the oil, there is a green vegetable involved and rolled oats, the amount of sugar in this bread definitely does not make it healthy. However, sometimes we just don’t care. We get a craving for something sweet or, as has been happening to me lately, get bored and feel like baking something. One would think being a person who is “actively seeking new opportunities” (optimistic person’s spin on ‘unemployed’. Credit goes to my friend Amanda) and has extra free time would maybe spend it at the gym or in community service or some other fulfilling task but instead I have been using my free time to bake. And cook. And eat. Some of the things I’ve made have failed, some have been good but not “postable” good, some great but I was too lazy to keep track of the ingredients list. So though I have not posted a gazillion food recipes, don’t worry I have eaten a gazillion recipes since being laid off four months ago.
Let’s bring the focus back to the zucchini bread. My mother has an enormous vegetable garden at her home in Florida. She grows everything and a lot of it. Though my parents are very healthy eaters even they can’t eat the barrels of vegetables she seems to grow daily, so she’s always giving away vegetables. So when they were last up in Atlanta they came with a ton of zucchini. My mom was out of ideas of what to do with it and they were kind of getting sick of eating it, and I can’t blame them. Zucchini is not something I crave, not like broccoli or brussel sprouts or kale which I could literally eat every day (true story). It doesn’t tickle my taste buds. I can take it or leave it. So what do I do with all this zucchini my mom is begging me to find a use for? Naturally, I decided to take a healthy vegetable and make an unhealthy dessert out of it. And why wouldn’t I? And let me tell you, my usually healthy parents did not mind my “twisted” use of the zucchini.
I got the original recipe off of Bon Appetit. I love their recipes. You can always depend on making something delicious from that site. The first time I made the zucchini bread I followed the recipe pretty well with only a couple of adjustments. But last week during a particularly cold, snowy and boring day I made the zucchini bread again this time using applesauce instead of oil. I can honestly tell you it’s better with applesauce. It’s so moist and delicious. I am still eating it four days later and it’s still incredibly moist like it was fresh out of the oven. If you don’t have applesauce, go ahead and use oil. But, I would recommend the applesauce substitution. It really adds an extra level of moistness. (Has everyone had enough of my use of the word “moist” yet?)
Here’s the link to the original recipe and see below for my take on it http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/zucchini-oat-bread
Applesauce & Oats Zucchini Bread
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 70-80 minutes plus cooling time Serving: one 8 x 4 bread loaf
INGREDIENTS
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup applesauce (or vegetable oil)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 3/4 cups coarsley grated zucchini or about 1 large zucchini
- 5 ounces (2/3 cup) old fashioned rolled oats, divided
- 1 1/2 tablespoon raw sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray one 8 x 4 loaf pan with nonstick spray
- Whisk eggs, applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.
- Whisk flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and ginger in another large bowl until just combined.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add egg mixture and slowly incorporate dry ingredients with a fork.
- Fold in grated zucchini and about 3-4 ounces of the oats. Scrape batter into the prepared pan.
- Toss raw sugar and remaining oats in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the batter.
- Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 70-80 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let bread cool in pan for at least 20 minutes. Enjoy!
