A Loaf to be Desired

As much as we all adore zucchini bread, it’s impossible to escape the fact that even a quick bread stuffed chalk full of vegetables is still essentially a cake. Most recipes are bursting with sugar, saturated fat and overly processed flours. Made with whole-wheat flour, egg whites and applesauce, this is a recipe you can rely on to let your family enjoy the late summer decadence of moist zucchini bread.

Zucchini Bread
Zucchini Bread / Corey Harmon / CC BY 2.0

Pro Tip: If you tend to have trouble with raw centers and crisp outsides on your quick breads, try reducing the temperature on your oven by 25 degrees and letting the bread cook a bit longer.

Zucchini Walnut Loaf

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Zucchini bread is an all-time summer favorite for almost any household with a zucchini plant in their garden…and their neighbors who keep finding anonymous donations of zucchini in the back seat of their cars. With this tasty and healthful recipe, you just might find yourself sneaking around behind the stealthy zucchini donors to snatch up those unwanted squash.

Tip: If your loaf pans are 8″x4″, go ahead and use them and plan to increase the bake time, checking every 5 minutes for doneness.

Servings: 16 (41 g )

Prep Time: 15 min.

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

  • ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. nutmeg

Wet ingredients:

  • 2 large egg whites
  • ½ cup sucralose
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 Tbsp. canola oil
  • ¼ tsp. lemon extract (optional)
  • 1 cup grated zucchini

Add-ins:

  • 2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9″x5″ loaf pan with cooking spray.
  2. Stir together dry ingredients.
  3. Whisk together wet ingredients except for zucchini in a separate bowl. Stir in zucchini.
  4. Gently mix wet mixture into dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in walnuts and transfer to loaf pan.
  5. Bake until a toothpick comes out almost clean (40-45 minutes). Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.