zucchini bread – round 1

It’s Friday.

Let the zucchini bread games begin.

You already have 2 zucchini bread recipes, but I have another 3!  They are the more traditional quick bread you are used to.  I had two semi-failed loaves.

The first is pictured below.  The flavor was great, but the texture was off.  Slightly dry and chewy.

However, it was still more than edible.  This loaf is loooong gone.

I knew the texture could be improved, and on trial two, it was.

In the first attempt, I used a combination of sucanat [dehydrated sugar cane juice] + brown rice syrup, for sweetening the loaf.  I also used a combination of oat + buckwheat flours.  These were the ingredients I wanted to adjust for trial #2.

My first thought was to increase the brown rice syrup and decrease the sucanat.  This would keep the sweetness the same, but add more moisture to the loaf.  I also thought back to my donut recipes, and decided to add some brown rice flour to lighten things up and improve the texture.

Both of those adjustments worked!

This first recipe has no problem holding together, which is a common issue with gluten free baked goods.  It has a very similar taste + texture to traditional zucchini bread, while much lower in oil + sugar.  The brown rice syrup is crucial in keeping this bread extremely moist.

I love the cracking on top and the thick, crunchy, crust it created.  After all of the loaves I made, you will still find me shoveling piece after piece, into my mouth.

If you’re looking for a traditional-style loaf of zucchini bread, this is your recipe!

I enjoyed this recipe much more than the wheat-based recipe I made last year.  Success!  Chris has even swayed from his every-single-day PB+J breakfast, to eating this for breakfast instead!

Zucchini Bread v.1

gluten-free // yields 1, 8x4 loaf

• 3/4 cup raw buckwheat flour [made from grinding raw groats in my blender]
• 3/4 cup gf oat flour [made from grinding gf steel cut oats or gf rolled oats into flour]
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1 cup grated zucchini, drained
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoon sunflower oil [melted coconut oil, or other]
• 2 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
• 3 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk [or other]
• 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons brown rice syrup [or maple syrup/honey]
• 3 tablespoons sucanat
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat your oven to 350* and grease + flour or line a 8x4 loaf pan with parchment paper.  To grease + flour, grease all sides of the pan and add 1-2 tablespoon of flour, knocking it around so all sides are covered.  Turn the pan over your sink and tap all sides, so the excess falls out.
2. In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients, except for the walnuts, and mix well.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs together then add in oil, applesauce, milk, brown rice syrup, and vanilla.  Whisk to combine.
4. Mix in zucchini to the bowl of wet ingredients.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently, until just combined.  Over-stirring will cause a gummy texture.
6. Gently fold in the walnuts and then pour into your pan and spread to even out.
7. Bake centered, on the middle rack for 40-48min.  The top will be cracked and golden brown.  Test with a toothpick for doneness.
8. Let sit in the pan to cool for 10min, before sliding a knife around the edge to release the loaf from the pan.  If it seems to be sticking to the bottom, gently release it with the help of a flexible spatula.

Notes:

*high altitude ~5,000ft:  oven: 375* milk: 4T baking powder: 1/2t + 1/8t

*Feel free to make this in a 9x5 loaf pan, 9x9, 8x8, in mini loaf pans, or even in muffin tins.  Just remember all of those options will lower the cook time.

*The hardest part with loaves are being able to tell when they’re done.  When you insert the toothpick, into the center of the loaf, you should be able to tell if the inside is still gooey.  It may look clean when you pull it out, but also go on how it feels.  Remember, it will cook slightly more when it’s out of the oven + cooling.

Still to come, in zucchini bread baking land:

• another GF loaf, partially made with almond meal, my new favorite ingredient

• a GF + vegan loaf, which I am extremely excited about – it was actually my favorite out of the three!

I finally put a dent in my grated zucchini and only had to freeze about 2 cups.  Sure got my dollars worth out of that squash!

Happy weekend!

Ashley

summer’s still cookin’

Despite this week’s sudden temperature drop, it’s technically still summer.

Despite dipping into last year’s pumpkin stash, it’s technically still summer.

Despite apples showing up at the market last weekend, it’s technically still summer.

I know this because I have yet to bake with zucchini.

And, you can still find zucchinis, larger than your forearm at the market.

$1 for this organic beauty.

Large zucchinis are great for baking, but not so great for dinner-recipes, which is the reason they are usually discounted.  Don’t let that discounted price fool you.  Snatch it up, grate the heck out of it, and store it in the fridge or freeze it!

Somehow, it wasn’t until a few months ago, that I realized I have a grater attachment for my food processor.  That was an exciting day.

I got a little trigger happy, pummeling spears of zucchini into the processor.  Before I knew it, I looked down to see the bowl a tad on the full side.

Grating zucchini for baking is really the best way to go.  If you have a grater attachment for your food processor, definitely use it over the regular blade.  You can also use a hand-held grater + get your arm workout in for the day.

If however you are without a grater of any type, you can grind the zucchini, but be careful not to make zucchini juice!  When you grind the zucchini, you’ll need to drain the excess water.  I leave the skin on and don’t both de-seeding.  If there are stray large pieces from grating with your food processor, just pick those out.

This zucch didn’t seem overly watery, so no draining necessary. 

Every summer growing up, I remember my dad growing piles of zucchini.  I also remember my mom rolling her eyes at them because that meant one thing.  Batch after batch of making zucchini bread.  It was really one of my favorite times of the year though.  Baking with mom and delicious, silky-soft, buttery zucchini bread.

I was reminded today, of the aroma that used to fill our house for a whole month in the summer.

Today’s post is not about zucchini bread.

It’s about zucchini buckwheat bakes! 

If you’re looking for non-gf recipes for zucchini bread, I can still help you out. 

1. Vegan Zucchini Bread Muffins
2. Zucchini Bread [guest post on Teri’s blog]

If you’re looking for gluten free breakfast, continue reading.

Today I made 2 versions of this bake.

1. gluten free
2. vegan + gf

Pre-bake photo. 

Both versions came out similar in taste + texture.  I will say that the vegan version was slightly doughier, from using ground flaxmeal instead of an egg.

These are actually very similar to zucchini bread in texture, which makes me excited to take a stab at a whole loaf.  Something I’ve been wary of, since going gluten free.

I went with the standard buckwheat flour, but you could most definitely use oat flour as well. 

If you’ve missed it in previous posts, I grind my own buckwheat + oat flour.

For buckwheat flour:

• Grind raw groats [pale yellowy/green in color] in your blender, or spice grinder until you have a fine flour-like powder.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge, for maximum freshness. *The experience I had with packaged buckwheat flour was not pretty.  I bought Arrowhead Mills brand and it had a horrible dirt-like-earthy flavor.  Raw groat flour, tastes nothing like that.  Kasha is toasted buckwehat and is dark red/brown in color.  It has a very deep, almost burnt flavor.  It still works for these recipes, but results in a much different, more savory, taste.

For oat flour:

• Grind raw oat groats, or steel cut oats, in your blender until you have a fine flour-like powder.  Store in a sealed conatiner in the fridge, for maximum freshness.  *You can also grind rolled oats to make oat flour, but the texture is not quite as soft and it seems to absorb slightly more liquid.

I topped the non-vegan version with butter + honey. 

Barely sweet, with a deep cinnamon, nutty flavor.

Zucchini Bread Buckwheat Bake [gluten free]

• 1/4c raw buckwheat flour
• 1T raw buckwheat groats
• 1T chia seeds
• 3T unswt almond milk
• 1 large egg
• 3-4T grated zucchini
• 2T unsweetened applesauce *or 1/2 well-mashed banana
• 3/4t cinnamon
• 1/2t vanilla
• 1/4t baking powder
• 1-2T chopped walnuts [opt]
• 1 1/2t honey/maple syrup/brown rice syrup [opt]

1. Preheat your oven to 350* and grease your baking dish of choice or line with parchment paper.  I use a mini soup crock that is about 4” wide by 1.5” deep.  You can also use 3 muffin tins or 2 larger ramekin dishes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, and then mix in milk, applesauce, vanilla, sweetener [if using], and zucchini.
3. Add in buckwheat flour, groats, chia seeds, cinnamon and baking powder.
4. Mix in walnuts if using.
5. Pour into baking dish and bake for 30-36min.  The top will be golden brown and cracked, and a toothpick will come out wet but not gooey.
6. Carefully slide a knife around the edge and flip out onto a plate. 
7. Top however you like.  ex: cream cheese, butter, honey, maple syrup, peanut butter, almond butter, nuts, coconut, etc.

*I left out sweetener in mine, but added it on top after baking.  If you add 1/2 banana, instead of applesauce, that will naturally sweeten things up a bit.

*Feel free to swap out buckwheat flour for oat flour and use 1T rolled oats instead of 1T buckwheat groats.

*You can leave out the chia seeds, but decrease the milk by 1T, if you do so.

A breakfast that will most definitely hold you over until lunch.  Something I’m always striving for!

I discovered something new with the vegan + gf buckwheat bakes.

Instead of adding a whole flax-egg, it works better to add the flax with the dry ingredients and just up the amount of milk.

While the flax-egg worked, it I think this works better.

Zucchini Bread Buckwheat Bake v.II [gluten free + vegan]

• 1/4c raw buckwheat flour
• 1T raw buckwheat groats
• 1T chia seeds
• 6T unswt almond milk
• 1T ground flaxmeal
• 3-4T grated zucchini
• 2T unsweetened applesauce *or 1/2 well-mashed banana
• 3/4t cinnamon
• 1/2t vanilla
• 1/4t baking powder
• 1-2T chopped walnuts [opt]
• 1 1/2t maple syrup/brown rice syrup [opt]

1. Preheat your oven to 350* and grease your baking dish of choice or line with parchment paper.  I use a mini soup crock that is about 4” wide by 1.5” deep.  You can also use 3 muffin tins or 2 larger ramekin dishes.
2. In a small bowl whisk the milk, applesauce, vanilla, sweetener [if using], and zucchini.
3. Add in buckwheat flour, groats, chia seeds, flax, cinnamon and baking powder.
4. Mix in walnuts if using.
5. Pour into baking dish and bake for 33-38min.  The top will be golden brown and cracked, and a toothpick will come out wet but not gooey.
6. Carefully slide a knife around the edge and flip out onto a plate. 
7. Top however you like.  ex: maple syrup, Earth Balance, peanut butter, almond butter, nuts, coconut, etc.

*I left out sweetener in mine, but added coconut butter on top for sweetness.  If you add 1/2 banana, instead of applesauce, that will naturally sweeten things up a bit.

*I find grinding my own flax, from flaxseeds works far better than buying pre-ground flaxmeal.  Always store flax seeds + meal in a sealed container in the fridge.

*Feel free to swap out buckwheat flour for oat flour and use 1T rolled oats instead of 1T buckwheat groats.

*You can leave out the chia seeds, but decrease the milk by 1T, if you do so.

*Cooking Tip* Because these do take awhile to bake, here is what I suggest if you want to eat buckwheat bakes in the morning.

• double, triple, etc.. the recipe and bake them all at once – remove from the baking dish or muffin tins [decreased bake time] and let cool completely – wrap well and store in a sealed container in the fridge – reheat in the morning – or, freeze + thaw whenever you want in the fridge overnight – reheat in the morning
• mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl and wet in another small bowl the night before – in the morning preheat your oven, grease your dish, stir ingredients together + pop in the oven while you’re getting ready

I’m not rushing summer away just yet.  There are more zucchini recipes to create!

Ashley