whole wheat zucchini bread

It’s that time of year. Gardens are overflowing with zucchini, and those blessed with a green thumb are practically begging to give them away. Friends, strangers, and everyone in between hear the oh-so-familiar summer phrase – “Can I interest you in some produce from my garden?”

And trust me to be the girl jumping up and down, waving hands frantically – “I’ll take as many as you’d like! Lay ’em on me, good sir!”

…then I get home and, in my haze of veggie-loving excitement, realize that I have little means of storing said vegetables properly for the long-term, and carving out time in our insanely busy summer schedule is proving hard to get a lot of canning and other food-prep done.

So I’ve had to get creative, yall. Said zucchinis have found their way into many facets of our eating habits lately: diced up and stirred into marinara sauces, spiralized for “zoodles” at least 3 times, cut into sticks and eaten raw with dip, and probably the biggest stretch – I’ve put them in my juicer with apples and carrots. Sounds weird…yes. Delicious? You better believe it.

However, my favorite way by far to use up this tasty vegetable is to sneak it into treats! That’s where this bread comes in.

Slightly sweet with the additional of vanilla Greek yogurt and dried cranberries, this is breakfast bread you can really get into and not feel guilty about! The majority of the oil is replaced with said yogurt and unsweetened applesauce, and whole-wheat flour gives you a nutty, earthy taste. Cinnamon takes the flavor to a well-balanced place. The small amount of sugar helps highlight the natural sweetness of the zucchini, and the bread itself is so wonderfully moist. Sliced fresh from the oven, it’s tantalizing aroma will beg you to be enjoyed immediately!

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Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread {adapted from Whole Foods Market}

Ingredients:

cooking spray

1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 egg

1/8 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp. vanilla Greek yogurt

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract {I used my homemade version!}

1 cup grated zucchini

1/2 cup dried cranberries, optional

To Prepare:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8″ loaf pan with cooking spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, applesauce, yogurt, sugar and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until well combined. Fold in zucchini and cranberries, then transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until risen, and the color is a deep golden brown, about 60 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted.

Cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes, and the remove bread from pan. Leave it to finish cooling completely.

To store, wrap tightly in seran wrap. Bread can be left on the counter, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 days. After that, store in the refrigerator to preserve freshness. 

 

Let’s Discuss: How do you and your family feel about adding vegetables to baked goods?