Treat of the Week for Work: Healthy Zucchini-Walnut Bread

Yesterday, my amazing coworkers brought me a fresh zucchini from a neighbor's garden- it was organic and HUGE! I was so thrilled to have such a fabulous ingredient to bake with, and they suggested I use it for zucchini bread- yum! I scavenged around a bit to find a good recipe and discovered a wonderful and healthy bread, that ended up tasting amazing.

My favorite thing about this recipe is how healthy it tasted- not in a gross, bland way, but in a way that I knew I was eating something that wasn't stuffed with preservatives or sugar- perfect! :)

The only changes I made to the original recipe were to half the sugar and exclude the cinnamon (yuck!) since I knew the apple sauce would sweeten it on its own. And instead of lemon extract, I subbed in vanilla- I love me some vanilla extract! (It just always adds that homey and warm essence that I love)

Zucchini-Walnut Loaf

(adapted from Eating Well)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup grated zucchini, lightly packed (about 8 ounces)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 mini 6-by-3-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Whisk egg whites, sugar, applesauce, oil and lemon extract (if using) in a medium bowl. Stir in zucchini.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients; slowly, mix in the zucchini mixture with a rubber spatula. Fold in walnuts. Do not overmix. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans.
5. Bake the loaves until a toothpick comes out almost clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

Give it a try and I guarantee you will love this for a nice breakfast on the go!

Happy Baking!

Jessica