Low-carb Savory Zucchini Bread

 We usually go for the "normal" zucchini bread, dark and spicy with raisins, etc., almost like my mom's old "fishing trip cake."  But I've been exploring other options for low carb bread--Joseph is big on that--and I love any way to get additional vegetables into us, so I was pleased to find a recipe that I could adapt, from Kelley Herring's Keto Breads cookbook.  This one uses coconut flour, too, rather than almond flour--I'm allergic to the latter and usually have to substitute something or other...

We're not doing Keto, per se, but we're okay with saving carbs and using them where they count--like chocolate!

This recipe is also pretty easy and fast, unlike some rather complex Keto breads.

Grate about 1 1/2 cups of zucchini, skin on...dump into a clean cloth and squeeze to get excess liquid out...or you can just drain for a few hours in a colander, but squeezing's quicker and oddly satisfying!

Ingredients:

1 C. coconut flour (though I'll admit next time I plan to use 3/4 C. and 1/4 C. of cassava flour...coconut flour is WEIRD.  It'll have a few more carbs but maybe be less...odd.  Tastes fine, but funny texture.)

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. sea salt

1-1/2 C. grated zucchini, drained

6 eggs  (Yes, 6.  That's what I thought!)

1/2 C. coconut oil, melted, olive or other oil.  Or like I did use bacon grease because we have a LOT.

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. lemon juice 

(No, I don't know why those last two.  But what the heck...)

I'm betting it would be good with herbs or a half cup of grated cheddar, too...next time...

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a bread pan well with coconut oil, butter, whatever, then make a sling of parchment paper for the bottom and sides.  

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl

 Mix eggs, oil, zucchini, etc. in a larger one, then combine well.

At this point I had to taste the batter. Yum.  Probably the bacon grease!

Plop the batter into the prepared pan, and level the top somewhat

Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes, check for doneness with the point of a knife--it should come out clean.  Let the bread cool before slicing (if you can!) (okay, mostly cool...) and enjoy.  

Because of the coconut flour, it has a kind of coarse texture, almost like cornbread...as I said, next time a bit of cassava flour, or if you're not allergic, you could try almond flour.  

I liked it with butter and honey (so much for low carb, right?  Hush!) and it makes wonderful skillet toast.  It's a bit tender, so I'm not sure how it would work for sandwiches.

DO store in an airtight container, for only a few days.  If you can't eat it all up within 3-4 days, slice and freeze for later...it tends to get moldy fairly fast, especially in warm damp weather.

Paleo Zucchini Spice Bread--gluten free and delicious!

Paleo Zucchini Spice Bread

This reminds me so much of the spicy cake my mom used to make...she called it "fishin' trip cake," so of course I made it for our recent trip to Bennett Spring!  Good hot, cold, toasted, buttered, or with cream cheese...give it a try!

We froze what was left for next time...

Ingredients:

2 eggs

½ cup maple sugar, coconut sugar, or unrefined cane sugar

½ cup olive oil (can use another healthy oil of course)

2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)

1 cup cassava flour or garbanzo flour or a combination of the two (or sure, wheat if you must...)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cloves
(this time I also added almost a tsp of pumpkin pie spice since we had it...I like spicy!)

½ tsp sea salt

1 cup raisins (optional)

½ cup sunflower seeds (optional) (Other nuts optional as well.)

Use butter, lard, ghee or coconut oil and cassava flour to grease and flour pans, or line pan with parchment paper.

Instructions:

Grate and drain zucchini ahead of time–that’s a SOGGY vegetable. (Sometimes I put it in a cloth and squeeze additional moisture out.) 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease and flour one large or two small loaf pans (or cut parchment paper to fit.)

Beat together eggs, sugar, and olive oil, then stir in drained zucchini.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt. Add to egg mixture and stir to fully incorporate. Fold in raisins, seeds or nuts.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until sharp knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from loaf pans, invert onto cooling rack. It keeps well if you can stay out of it!

Adapted (quite a bit!) from a recipe from Sarah Ballantyne, the Paleo Mom.