Grain-free Zucchini Bread

Every once and a while I find a recipe that just tastes SO good! A recipe that you just can not stop eating. It happened especially with my original banana cake, nourishing protein bars, chocolate chunk bark, the best cornbread, gluten-free gingerbread men, and now it's happening again. I'll admit, while this phenomenon of finding an excellent recipe is preferable, it is a problem. Recipes that are just too good are a problem simply because it's extremely tempting to eat the final product in one sitting. Eating a whole batch of baked goods in one sitting (while it may be delicious) is not recommended for good digestion or my girl-ish figure. May this be your warning that this grain-free zucchini bread is quite good :)

Great texture!

Summer means zucchini, zucchini means zucchini bread, and zucchini bread means happy stomach. But only if you're baking with real fresh eggs, health fats and simple ingredients. This bread has all of that! For lack of a better word (augh here it comes) this bread is moist, sweet, and nutritious. Anyone else not like using the word "moist"? Bananas, eggs, and zucchini make the bread moist/soft/creamy; the banana, coconut sugar and maple syrup make the bread sweet (I am going to cut back next time); and the zucchini, eggs, and cinnamon make this bread super nutritious.

Grain-free Zucchini Bread
     Makes one standard loaf 

     4  real eggs

     38 g  coconut sugar (palm sugar)

     4.1 oz  maple syrup (I use grade B)  
     70 g  organic coconut oil - softened
      2 g  cinnamon

      4 g  vanilla

      2 g  sea salt

     88 g  organic coconut flour
     81 g  natural almond flour (unblanched - I use Honeyville)
     35 g  arrowroot flour
     4 g  baking powder
     50 g  organic coconut flakes
     176 g  ripe banana (2 medium)
     12.2 oz  organic farmer's market zucchini - shredded (weighed after draining)
     80 g  organic raisins
     chopped walnuts for topping

To make your zucchini bread:
  1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection.
  2.  In your food processor, grate zucchini. Turn zucchini into a tea towel and squeeze out the natural water of the zucchini. Let sit while preparing other ingredients, and squeeze hard once more before adding to bowl.
  3.  Place first three ingredients in a small bowl and whisk vigorously together by hand one minute.
  4.  To that bowl, add next four ingredients and whisk until combined. Small lumps are ok.
  5.  To the same bowl, add next six ingredients and mash together.
  6.   Finally, fold in zucchini and raisins. Pour batter into a greased (with old butter wrappers or coconut oil) standard loaf pan. Top with ground walnuts if desired.
  7.   Bake in oven until bread rises, cracks slightly on top, walnuts are browned, sides have pulled away from pan and a stick inserted in the middle comes out clean; about an hour.

These measurements are given in grams or ounces, and I do not know the cup or metric conversions. I have found that baking with a food scale, not only is easier, but takes much less time. After my experience baking and in food service, it's hard for me to use measuring utensils, as I am used to "scaling out" every ingredient.

Yummy walnut topping!

Also, as I mentioned earlier, this bread is very sweet. I included my original measurements in this recipe, but next time I know I will use less coconut sugar and maple syrup. I enjoy the sweetness, but it makes this bread just too good and a bit too sweet for my taste. Enjoy this grain-free version of zucchini bread :) I sure did!