Healthy Zucchini Bread {GF, V}

A soft and springy and sightly sweet zucchini bread - gluten, dairy and egg free. This is a great one to bake on a Sunday to fill lunchboxes with a weekday treat. I love it toasted with a little smidge of coconut butter.

Sometimes, I’m quite the Virgo – all lists and notes and order – carefully planning what recipes or articles I want to make and write to share here on the blog.

Other times, I’m more Vata – a chaotic indecisive wind, whirling around the markets picking up produce and making up recipe ideas on the spot – then promptly forgetting them as the next thing grabs my attention.

Luckily, some giant zucchinis caught my eye and I had the sense to take them home to experiment for this recipe before inspiration left me again.

I love me a good zucchini bread, it’s pure comfort food and packed full of vegetables. However - they’re usually made a little on the sweet side for my liking, and most are made with dairy and eggs.

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My recipe is a little different. A blend of buckwheat and almond flour is used in place of regular flour. You can buy both of these from most health stores and even supermarkets now. If you are a Kitchen-Inspector-Gadget like me, and have a dehydrator (the best thing ever), then I encourage you to make your own flours at home.

I know it takes a bit more love and energy, but the end result is something far gentler on your digestive system.

To make almond meal, you take raw and organic almonds, and soak them in filtered water with a small dash of apple cider vinegar for a few hours or even overnight.

Rinse and drain them, and dehydrate at a low temperature till 100% dry. Finally, place them in a blender and blitz till powdery and fine. Homemade almond meal is always a little more textured than store bought – but man it’s delicious.

Read more on how to make raw nut flours here.

You make buckwheat flour in much the same way – but you could go a step further and sprout them before dehydrating, to further boost both nutrient content and bioavailability.

When you blend dried buckwheat, you will get a fine powder/flour, just like the store bought.

Flours aside, the rest of the recipe if fairly simple. Psyllium husks are used as a gelling agent/binder (and so, the dough/batter is best left to rest a bit to allow it to swell up and do its thing before baking), and onion powder is added for a bit of flavour oomph.

I admit it is sometimes tricky to source a good onion powder – don’t confuse it with onion salt – I’m talking pure dehydrated and ground onions here. You can totally make this yourself at home if you like – though I’m a bit wimpy when it comes to cutting onions.

One last note about the recipe – I used sunflower seeds and lightly toasted them before folding them through – so yummy.

As you probably know, I have my short break from work and college at the moment, so I’ve been sitting in front of the TV watching Kingdom, scoffing slices of this bread all week. So. Good. The bread, the break, the doing-nothing, and the gazing at Nick Jonas on telly. All of it. A little bit of healthy comfort food and eye candy does wonders for the burnt out study brain, I tell ya!

Enjoy the slice – it will turn out slightly more cake-like in texture. Try and source that onion powder – it really makes it. In my opinion, this is best toasted the next day, slathered in tahini, avocado and sea salt.

L.

If you make and enjoy this recipe, please leave a rating below. And better yet – leave me a comment to tell me how you got on, or just say hi – I LOVE hearing from you. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest to see more of my everyday recipes and wellness tip.

📖Recipe

Healthy Zucchini Bread {V, GF}

Naturopath Lauren Glucina

Delicious healthy zucchini bread – gluten free, vegan and made without refined sugars. Serves 12-14 depending on how thick you like it.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Bread

Cuisine Dairy-free, Gluten free, Vegan

Servings 12

Calories 244 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

DRY:

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder GF
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons psyllium husks
• 2 tablespoon pure onion powder not onion salt!
• ½ teaspoon sea salt coarse

WET:

• ¾ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup coconut butter liquefied
• ½ cup brown rice syrup

TO FOLD THROUGH:

• 1½ cups zucchini grated, tightly packed
• ½ cup sunflower seeds toasted (for extra flavour)

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat oven at 180˚C. Line a rectangle bread tin with baking paper.
• Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, adding psyllium husks last.
• Blend all wet ingredients till smooth.
• Once you’ve grated the zucchini, pat it dry in between paper towels to remove excess moisture.
• Fold grated zucchini and toasted sunflower seeds through dry mixture. Create a well in the centre and pour in wet ingredients. Use a spatula to fold the mixture together till it creates a dough.
• Transfer mixture to baking tin, then let rest for 15 minutes, giving the psyllium husks time to swell and bind with other ingredients.
• Bake at 180˚C for 40-45 minutes, then remove from tin and let cool before slicing. Serve with avocado, coriander, sea salt, tahini or coconut butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 244kcal

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