Zucchini Bread (Paleo & Nut-free)

At the end of summer each year, it seems as though zucchini recipes & zucchini things are everywhere as people are trying to either savor one of the flavors of summer, or they’re trying to figure out how to use up the crazy amount of zucchini their garden produced. We’ve eaten a fair amount of zucchini this summer, but most all of it was purchased from a store. Someday, it’ll be nice to grow our own & join the group of people with overloads of zucchini.

Most of our zucchini consumption has been savory: Sautéed with shallots & bacon, roasted in the oven, sliced into stir-fry/hash, grated raw on salads & the ever amazing zucchini noodles (aka “zoodles”)... I did make this zucchini bread a couple of times after successfully reintroducing whole eggs. Even the non-paleo people remarked that they enjoyed it, though it isn’t as sweet as most zucchini bread recipes.  One night back in ND, I served it more like a pound cake than a quick bread, by topping slices with a little coconut whipped cream and an extra drizzle of local honey.

Often times, paleo baked goods rely heavily on the use of almond flour & other nut flours. One of the things I like about this particular recipe is that it uses coconut flour instead of almond flour. For me, and many other people who are in the reintroduction stages of the autoimmune protocol (aka AIP and/or autoimmune paleo), keeping my nut consumption on a limited level helps me to feel the best. Coconut flour is still a bit of a mystery to me, because it acts so different than regular wheat flours & other gluten free flours. This zucchini bread isn’t quite as tall as others may be, and the coconut flour does give it more of a spongy texture, but nevertheless, it is very, very tasty!  

I even have to be a little careful about how often I make this recipe. It’s taken a lot of conscious effort (and time) to subdue my sweet tooth and the part of me that craves treats... Lately, eating a couple bites of fruit is enough to satisfy me (and I’ve even been working to reduce my fruit consumption, because even excess sugars from fruit are not good for me). When I have this zucchini bread around, I find myself constantly eating tiny slices of it! I should be continuing in the mindset that sweets, even ones made with safe-to-me, paleo compliant ingredients, are still to be enjoyed sparingly.  Pairing some of the leftover zucchini bread with chicken sausages & a homemade paleo-ified bulletproof pumpkin spice latte was a special treat. 

Zucchini Bread (Paleo & Nut-free) 
adapted from Small Footprint Family

Note: this recipe is *close* to AIP, but still includes eggs (which I have successfully reintroduced in small quantities). If you’re following strict AIP, you could try the gelatin egg replacer (see this post); however, I have not tested that substitution yet....  

1 Zucchini, grated (around 5.7 oz)
56 g / 1/2 c Coconut Flour (I use Bob's Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour)
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 Tbl Cinnamon
4 large pastured eggs, room temperature
64 g / 3 Tbl Raw Honey
13 g (1 Tbl) Coconut Oil, room temperature, plus additional for the pan
1 ripe banana, mashed

1. Using the large openings on a box grater, grate the zucchini into a bowl. Allow to sit while measuring the rest of the ingredients. 
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper & brush the paper with coconut oil. Set aside. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together the coconut flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 
4. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs, honey & coconut oil. Mix in the mashed banana. Add the dry ingredients & whisk thoroughly until there aren’t any lumps. 
5. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the grated zucchini (I do this by dividing the zucchini into a couple handfuls & squeeze it as hard as I can) & add it to the batter. Pour into the prepared loaf pan & bake for 45 to 50 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). 
6. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove, using the parchment liner to assist. 
7. Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature. Slice just before serving. This zucchini bread is not extremely sweet, so you may wish to serve it with an extra drizzle of honey, if you’re not following a low sugar diet. 

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