Grain-Free Zucchini Bread
Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Dairy-Free
If you ever have extra zucchinis laying around, luckily you can use them to make delicious bread. Maybe you have a zucchini plant in your garden that’s produced excess, maybe you picked up an extra from the store, or maybe your neighbor has a surplus. Making zucchini bread can help you avoid the guilt of wasting food that’s about to go bad, but with the perks of it tasting delicious and being easy to share.
While it is unclear why someone first baked zucchini into bread, it has since become a harvest favorite. Now you can enjoy it grain-free with Otto's Cassava Flour. You can make it for an after-school snack or a treat to share with neighbors. Our recipe has the perfect blend of spices for a flavor you’re going to love.
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups Otto’s Naturals –Cassava Flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Otto's Naturals Grain-Free Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- 1 cup grated zucchini (slightly more if your zucchini isn’t moist)
- A handful or two of chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Cream oil and sugar together with a stand or hand mixer. Then add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
- In a medium sized bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Then add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet and incorporate together.
- Add grated zucchini and mix well.
- Spoon mixture into a greased and lightly floured 8x4-inch loaf pan or 2 mini loaf pans.
- Bake for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until a knife comes out dry (less time for the minis).
NOTE: A common store bought zucchini around 8.5” x 2” diameter will yield about 2 cups of grated zucchini. If you have two cups you can double this recipe. Also, if there’s a little extra zucchini, it could be added to the batter without adversely affecting the recipe.
More Grain-Free Bread Recipes:
If you’re a fan of grain-free bread you need to try our Pumpkin Bread, Easy Peasy No Yeast Sandwich Bread, or our delicious Banana Bread!
How to Select the Perfect Zucchini:
Ideal zucchinis are small to medium-sized and free of nicks and cuts. Larger ones may look good but are sometimes watery and tasteless. Make sure they don’t have soft spots that may indicate they were bruised or too long off the vine. Vibrant colors usually mean more flavor. Fresh zucchini will have tiny hairs on the green skin. Make sure there is a good chunk of the stem still attached to the zucchini as those will last longer.
To store, keep zucchini tightly wrapped in the refrigerator, whole, dry and unwashed in the crisper drawer. They should last for 1 to 2 weeks.
Baking with Zucchini:
It is easy to prepare the zucchini before making it into bread, but it can be a messy task, so you may wish to do it over the sink or into a large bowl. No different than other grating tasks, secure a box grater in one hand and the stem end of the zucchini in the other. Using the side of the box grater with the largest holes, grate the zucchini and stop before you hit the stem.
Remember, for this recipe it is okay if you have a little extra zucchini once you measure it into cups, especially if your zucchini isn’t very moist.
Ginger – A Real Superfood
Ginger is a flowering plant that originated in Southeast Asia. In addition to adding zest and a delicious taste to your cooking, it is considered a superfood spice. It is closely related to turmeric and cardamom. In this recipe we use it in its dried powdered form, but other times it is used fresh, as an oil, or a juice. The underground part of the stem is what is commonly used for flavor. That is why it is also called ginger root.
Ginger has been used for everything from fighting flu and the common cold to reducing nausea and improving digestion. Although it is unlikely that the amount of ginger in our recipe is sufficient to result in significant health benefits, you may wish to find out more about the nutrients and bioactive compounds in ginger that have been found to have powerful benefits on your brain and body. It’s a superfood actually worthy of the term.
Cinnamon Spice is Everything Nice:
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum. It is mostly used as an aromatic condiment. It has been a prized possession since ancient Egypt. Before it became readily available it was regarded as a gift fit for a king.
Many dishes from a variety of cuisines are enhanced by adding cinnamon as a flavouring additive. Cinnamon is found in candies, breakfast cereals, snack foods, tea, and many main dishes. It enhances but does not overcome the flavor in our zucchini bread. Like ginger, it has been credited with numerous health benefits. It is loaded with antioxidants, helps the body fight infections and may help lower your risk of disease.
