Man, I’m feeling bummed right now. I would guess that my mom is too based on her tears when I dropped her off at the airport this morning. She starts to cry, then I start to cry…it ain’t pretty! I think I even saw a nearby taxi driver shed a tear.
We always have such a great time together and then when it’s all over I feel a pit in my stomach when she has to leave. I’ve already called her once since I got home from the airport. I may look like a grown woman, but I’m still a mama’s girl at heart. ;)
The good news is, we’ll always have this incredible oil-free Zucchini loaf to remember the good times and great food on this trip!
I even sent her off with a big slice to take on the plane with her. It comforts me knowing that she has my yummy homemade food to eat instead of cardboard plane food. I’m a strong believer in wholegrain carbs when you’re feeling blue!
Plus, carbs are addicting which means that she’ll have to come back to visit real soon…right?
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Oil-Free Zucchini Walnut Raisin Loaf with Cinnamon Streusel
Adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole grain spelt flour (or white whole wheat flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, mixed and set aside for 5 minutes)
- 1 & 1/4 cup shredded zucchini (leave skin on), packed
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
- 1 & 1/4 cups non-dairy milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
- Cinnamon Streusel topping: 2 tsp non-dairy margarine/butter, 1 tbsp coarse sugar (like turbinado), 1 tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (see note below). Mix the flax egg and set aside. Oil a regular-sized loaf pan and then line it with parchment paper so you can easily pull out the loaf when cooled.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, powders, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, raisins, and walnuts).
3. In another large bowl, combine the wet ingredients (flax egg, shredded zucchini, lemon zest & juice, maple syrup, milk).
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just mixed. Be careful not to overmix the batter as spelt flour is delicate.
5. Spoon the batter into prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly. Prepare the cinnamon streusel and then sprinkle on top. Bake for about 45-60 minutes at 350F or until toothpick comes out clean and the loaf gently springs back when pressed.
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None of us could believe that this loaf does not contain oil! Magic trick #2 this weekend. (See Magic Trick #1: The eggless fluffy chocolate cupcake!)
The shredded zucchini does a wonderful job giving this loaf moisture..and you don’t taste the zucchini at all. You can see beautiful flecks of green though!
It’s a very dense loaf, but not in a bad way! Whole grain spelt flour tends to make dense breads, but I just love the nutty flavour of spelt so I don’t mind. The walnuts, streusel, and raisins add just the right amount of sweetness and crunch.
We’ve been enjoying this not-too-sweet loaf for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. If you like your baked goods sweet you might want to add another 1/4 cup of sugar, but we thought it was just perfect for a healthy snack.
It’s wonderful spread with Earth Balance, nut butter and jam…or just enjoyed plain!
On that note, I think I may need some endorphin-inducing carbs to cheer me up…
Hi Angela,
Just stumbled on your site today when looking for a gluten and dairy free eggplant dish. I made your eggplant /zucchini casserole for dinner… very good and now am baking your cinammon walnut bread with gluten free flour – smelling good!
Looking forward to trying more of you yummy looking food. Love the pix of you and your Mom, mine haas been deceased now for 9 years,but looking forward to when 1 of my 5 adult chidren have kiddos of their own.
Blessings to you!!
Kathy
This zucchini bread is delicious! My husband said he could eat it all day long! :) I’m making your 10-Spice Vegetable Soup right now. Served it to our kids when they were here a couple of months ago and they loved it—— our son asked for the recipe! It’s a really good soup recipe and does freeze well! Thank you, Angela, for 2 more great recipes!
Made the GF version of this and came out so good!! Used 1 cup AP gluten free flour + 1 cup buckwheat flour. Also subbed honey and egg instead because I’m not vegan. Cooked it for 45 min and it came out perfect! Heard people saying things about not cooking all the way or too gooey so I omitted 1/4cup milk and it was so tasty ?
This is delicious! I followed the recipe as written but reduced the almond milk to 1 cup based on other reviews. Non plant based followers requested a 2nd slice!
Sadly this is a fail…. It’s the third recipe I’ve tried this week that just. Won’t. Cook!
Crisp on the outside, pudding on the inside :( Devo because it smells great!
What a nice blog post! I miss my mum too and start to wait for her next visit the moment she has left even now when i have my own baby! And also love to give her some baked goods to munch on while traveling. Baked the bread today, it was delicious! I think it will be only thing i am going to eat today :D i did added a bit more flour as batter seemed to thin and it turned moist but not mushy.
I made it exactly as written and baked it for 60 min, but it turned out a bit soggy in the middle. Hence, I recommend putting the amount of flour in weight instead of volume (cups).
Also, I recommend changing the title to Lemon-Zucchini Loaf/Bread as the lemon flavour sings out well.
Hey Laurie, Thank you so much for your feedback! I appreciate it greatly. It’s been a while since I’ve made this loaf so I will have to test it again soon. So glad you and your little one are still enjoying it.
Any updates on this recipe?
Hi Ashley, I don’t think I do…which update were you hoping to have? :)
Also, regarding my previous comment: after finely grating the zucchini I squeezed it in a tea towel in order to get out unneeded moisture. Lots of moisture came out, but it still turned out soggy in the middle.
That said, my 2-year old tot and I are enjoying it.
I finally made this. It’s too good! My husband said “This tastes like it’s really bad for me.” I’ve eaten a third of the loaf this morning and I never do that. Ever.
I did a few modifications: Ener-g egg replacer instead of a flax egg as well as Ener-g instead of regular baking soda/powder. Whole wheat flour instead of spelt. Left out the raisins and walnuts in the bread but incorporated 30g chopped walnuts in the topping instead. I think the lemon zest/juice really makes it. Yum. 5/5 stars.
haha I love his comment! Thanks for sharing your tweaks too :)
Eating some at the airport. that I baked last night! Thank you for another fabulous recipe!
This bread was great but I will cut the milk back to 1 cup next time, as others mentioned. I baked it for an hour and 10 minutes and the bottom 1/4 of the loaf did still seem a little gummy when fully cooled. BUT that being said it was still delish and I loved the topping. I added some oats to it as it needed a little more dry ingredients ( I might have eyeballed too much of the butter spread.) I have been comparing and testing many different vegan zucchini bread recipes as I’ve got a ton of zucchini coming in from the garden and I was on a mission to find the best recipe. Initially skeptical that this recipe uses mainly milk as the wet ingredient where other recipes use applesauce and oil, with smaller amounts of milk if any, I reminded myself I’ve never tried a bad recipe from Angela’s site! With the adjustment to reduce the milk next time I think this one probably wins, plus you’d NEVER know this was oil free! I added chocolate chips and left off the raisins and walnuts, adding some walnuts on top of the loaf instead. They get nice and toasty that way, I started doing that after making Angela’s banana bread, which my family loves. Thank you!
Thank you for a great recipe! I used whole wheat flour. It turned out perfectly. I will definitely make this one again.
I baked this for longer than 60 Minutes and the outside crisped nicely but the inside remained utter mush. I’m really disappointed to use my valuable ingredients and have the recipe not work out.
Hi! Does the grated zucchini need to be ‘squeezed’ to remove excess moisture or just leave as is?