Ma’s Wicked Good Zucchini Bread

Makes one 8 by 4-inch loaf (about 10 slices)

Spray oil
1 or 2 small zucchini
1 cup raisins, optional
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk*
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sweetener, such as honey, maple syrup, or date paste**
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat the loaf pan with spray oil.
2. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl (about 3 cups). Stir the raisins into the zucchini and set aside bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, applesauce, sweetener, and walnuts. Add the milk mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir to combine, then stir in the flour mixture. The batter will be thick.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

My notes: As I mentioned on Wednesday, this bread did not turn out very well for me, but I did make some mistakes. First, I chose to sweeten with honey; maple syrup would have been a better choice. Also, I did not add raisins or walnuts, at my sons’ request, but I think the bread needed the extra flavor and texture. I think there is potential for this to be a pretty good recipe, but my version of it was not good.
 
*We are not lactose intolerant. I just used regular old cow’s milk. 
**The authors of this cookbook only use fruit paste for sweetener. I feel like that is still basically sugar, but what do I know? If you do want to make date paste, soak 1 cup of dried dates in 2 cups of water for at least an hour. Remove dates from the water and place in blender. Blend for about 2 minutes, adding some of the soaking water until you reach the desired consistency. Other fruit paste options, would be apricots, figs, or raisins. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend everyone!