Sunday, August 21, 2011

Gluten & Dairy-Free Zucchini Bread



Jon’s parents have a lovely garden each summer and they are always kind enough to share some of their produce with me. They really are great gardeners and usually have a harvest of delicious tomatoes, beans, chard, lettuce and zucchini. Right now their zucchinis are in full force and Jon has challenged me to make Zucchini Bread. :)

This isn’t something I’ve attempted to make since I’ve been gluten & dairy-free so I knew this would be a bit of an experiment. I have been using more and more coconut in my baking (oil, milk, sugar and flour) so I was excited to see how I could add this into the mix.

After a couple of weeks of experimenting I have to say, I am very happy with the end result! You get this sweet, mild flavored bread, with hints of lemon and coconut. It has a lovely texture that holds together well and it’s also incredibly moist, thanks to the applesauce and coconut oil.

I was so happy by the results I even made another batch tonight, just to celebrate blogging. :)

note: Coconut oil is solid at temperatures under 76 degrees F. In order to prevent it from solidifying in the mixing process, all cold ingredients need to be brought up to room temperature.

Makes 1 9in loaf
start to finish: 1½ hours (including baking time)
  • 1 cup white sorghum flour
  • ½ cup tapioca starch
  • ¼ cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup organic sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 2 large free-range organic eggs (room temp)
  • ⅓ cup applesauce (room temp)
  • ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup coconut milk (room temp)
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1½ cup of zucchini, grated and extra liquid gently squeezed out

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and line the bottom of a 9-inch loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper (this was a great idea from Karina at Gluten-Free Goddess that makes removing the bread very easy). Lightly oil pan and paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt. Add in eggs, apple sauce, coconut oil, coconut milk, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Beat on medium high until the batter is a smooth consistency. About 2 minutes. Finally add in the grated zucchini and mix well to combine.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth top. Decorate with extra strips of zucchini and bake in the center of a preheated oven for about 60 minutes. Bake until the top is lightly browned, firm, and a toothpick inserted removes clean.



5 comments:

  1. I had the honor of tasting this last week and it IS delicious. I loved how the lemon and coconut really came out - two of my favorite things. Thanks Laura - I will definitely be making this!

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  2. Thanks so much Tammy! I really appreciate your feedback. When you get around to making it let me know how it turned out. :)

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  3. This sounds great. I've been experimenting with coconut flour too lately as I finally found some in Australia (I've never seen any in NZ), but I've been really unhappy with my results *sigh*. Even when I've used recipes that have it in the original. Great idea to pair it with naturally 'wet' zucchini to counter-balance the moisture-sucking flour!

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  4. Thank you! I also a huge fan of using applesauce. It really helps to add moisture as well. I wonder if the coconut flour would work in your Chocolate pear cake or Gluten-free Chocolate spider-web cake? The apples and pears would probably compare nicely to the zucchini. :)

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  5. Aha great idea. I only have a teeny bit left though, and not sure I'll buy it again...

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