29 August 2013

Sugar free whole wheat Zucchini Bread recipe

Sugar-free-Fat free-Zucchini-Bread-recipe


Zucchini Bread is a kind of sweet bread made up of the Zucchini. As simple as that and obviously right :) .However, it was not as simple and obvious to me when I was first introduced to this vegetable. Yes , Zucchini is nothing but a vegetable belonging to the squash family in a culinary concept but botanically speaking, Zucchini is in fact an immature fruit, the swollen ovary of the Zucchini flower as per Wikipedia .How amazing yet weird fact is that, ain't it ?

It was not until a year back I came to know about this interesting vegetable. It so happened that once when I visited my friend, she said,"I have Zucchini at my backyard" .I literally thought Zucchini is a lady who happens to be my friend's friend .Doesn't Zucchini sounds like a girl's name?? I don't know about you but for me it did .So, when we went to her home's backyard, lo and behold,"surprise, surprise" , it is a vegetable ! I was like ,"So this is zucchini" .She said,"Duhhh" .I told her I thought she was gonna introduce me to her friend named Zucchini and she started ROFL ..followed by me :D ..it was actually ROGL  (Rolling On Grass Laughing ).

So,after a hearty laugh.She asked me if I would like to have one ,take home and prepare something ,"La Zucchini special".I was like no way .Because never ever in my life until she introduced I came across this vegetable .I never saw this in India .But Wikipedia says, in India it's called  "Seemai Sorakkai" .Consequentely, I did not know what exactly to ask my mom about any zucchini recipes.So,I did not have any foolproof recipe in hand.My friend said,"You'll have a recipe when you will try mine." I said okkk.She gave a bread slice and asked me to taste it.I tasted and it felt so good because it was sweet and I love anything sweet and moreover I can hardly taste any vegetable I mean Zucchini in it .She told so that's Zucchini bread recipe for you.You love it,you take it,you make it and I DID.

Since then I made Zucchini bread couple of times and also came up with a few other interesting recipes as well. Now it's a "To buy" grocery. But when I think of the ovary stuff, It's a bit turn off.

When it comes to the health facts related to Zucchini, it is a must have vegetable in your kitchen, palate and plate. This is what I found when I spied on this strange vegetable's whereabouts and facts especially from Wikipedia. (If interested read this otherwise fast forward to the recipe :) )

First thing first, This is Zucchini (Photo courtesy :flowers.org) .I forgot to take a picture of my zucchini as I already shredded it.

  1. Zucchini originated in America but were re-introduced and popularized by the Italian immigrants . Even the name zucchini is derived from the Italian word Zucchina which means 'Small pumpkin'.
  2. Zucchini has only 25 calories and 95% is just water. Even it's flowers are edible .
  3. It's a nutrient and vitamin packed with folate, manganese, Vitamin A, Vitamin C , potassium even more than Bananas to name a few.
  4. It is fat free, cholesterol free, low in sodium and with other vital vitamins & minerals and so, according to the world's healthiest food nutrition info , Zucchini can even aid to prevent cancer and heart diseases .
So, after knowing all these valuable info how can I not include it in my cooking menu and you should too .You will not regret it .Like this bread recipe as instructed by my friend but here with my tweaks to make it more health friendly as I used whole wheat instead of all purpose flour and Stevia (natural sugar sweetener) instead of sugar .

So, here goes my ,"Sugar free whole wheat Zucchini Bread recipe"


Ingredients :

1 cup shredded Zucchini 
1/2 cup Canola oil or any cooking oil
3/4 cup Stevia /Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
11/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
11/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon milk (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts & dry fruit mix (I used Walnuts, cashews, almonds, raisins, cherries), if desired.


Preparations:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. Grease and lightly flour a loaf pan (ideal one to bake breads) .
  3. Using a shredder, shred Zucchini about one cup. Set aside. (See the green shredded zucchini in the first pic)
  4. Take a deep bowl and combine oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Whisk them with a hand mixer or an electric mixer on medium speed for a minute max. Add the shredded zucchini in to it and stir it.
  5. Now add the flour, baking soda , baking powder, salt, cinnamon, milk and nut-dry fruit mix and stir everything until completely mixed. 
  6. zucchini_bread_recipe

  7. The batter will be stiff (i added milk for a moist bread) and now ready to be poured into the greased loaf pan.
  8. Bake it for like 50-60 minutes if it is a large loaf and 30-40 minutes if it is small or test whether it's ready by inserting a toothpick or a knife in center which should come out clean.
  9. Once done, put in the oven and let it cool a bit for like 10 minutes and then remove from the oven and allow it to cool on a cooling rack completely.
  10. Voila, Zucchini bread is ready !!
That's my breakfast nowadays . Sweet, healthy breakfast with a cup of milk.. ah.. Delish!! :).. Hope it'll last for two days at least .Wanna grab a slice ??? Here take one ;)


zucchini_bread_recipe

Notes:

1. You can use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat and sugar instead of Stevia. 
2.I also drizzled some melted dark chocolate over the bread before baking.

That's it. Have a sweet day :)