Time for another post on yummy vegan recipes. Today I want to share with you a quick and easy vegan zucchini bread recipe that is also super tasty. And as a bonus it makes for great muffins too if you.
In fact, you can add a half cup of vegan chocolate chips if you like and this recipe remains not only healthy, but almost like a dessert!
Zucchinis are treated as vegetables but curiously they are not really vegetables in the botanical sense. They are considered an immature fruit. Maybe ‘cos they clown around in the vegetable patch all day. Ba da bing 🙂
Anyway, zucchinis are really good for you and not only because they are veggies, though being a veggie or summer squash in this case does help.
In 1 cup of cooked zucchini which only contains 29 calories you get the following: Vitamin A 40% of your daily value, Vitamin K 9%, Thiamin 5%, Vitamin B6 7%, Folate 8%, Magnesium 10%, Potassium 13%, Copper 8% and Manganese 16%. Other vitamins and minerals as well, but those are some of the highlights.
That same serving offers up 3 grams of fiber and 1 gram of protein. But that’s only for a 29 calorie serving with NO fat. This is why we eat healthy whole plant foods as vegans.
If you’re curious about the protein requirement for vegans and vegetarians you can click on that link and read the truth about plant proteins as complete proteins.
Now let’s get into the kitchen and cook ourselves some delicious vegan zucchini bread – with or without chocolate chips – your choice! Makes 2 loaves
Vegan zucchini bread with panache
0.25 cup oil
0.75 cup water or soy milk
2 cups grated zucchini (about 4 to 6 medium ones)
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed in 9 tablespoons hot water (this is your egg replacer)
2 cups sugar or 1 cup sugar and 1 cup chocolate chips
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp grated nutmeg or 0.33 tsp dry nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 loaf tins of about 8.5″ x 4.5″
In a large bowl stir together the wet ingredients. In other words stir in your oil, water, zucchini, flax egg replacer, sugar and vanilla.
In a smaller bowl mix together the dry ingredients. In the small bowl add the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder.
Then add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Remember that in baking like this, less stirring is usually better, so stir until just well mixed.
Pour into your greased loaf tins and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. I stick a sharp knife into the bread guts around 45 minutes to see how it’s doing. If it comes out clean it’s good.
Remember, this zucchini bread is meant to be moist thanks to all the zucchini and/or chocolate chips. This will cause it to be denser than what you might expect from a regular bread and as such it will rise lower than a normal bread.
Take out of oven. Let cool for 5 minutes in the lost tins and then put out onto wire racks to cool further. Should be ready, tasty and delicious about 20 to 30 minutes later.
For those who have a sweet tooth. Tell me the chocolates aren’t the bomb! For a less healthy version you can also use all purpose flour in place of whole wheat.
This recipe makes 2 loaves of about 24 slices between them.
Nutrition per slice: 143 calories, 3g fat, 2g fiber and 2g protein.