Today was technically Monday for me after my relaxing adventure day yesterday, and I am not going to lie…it was stressful and hectic. I had to come home to scoop up the dogs for our house inspection and I took them to Goose Pond for a nice long hike and swim. The inspection took FOREVER though and when I finally got home around 4 pm I attacked the leftover birthday cupcakes in the fridge.
Well… parts of them, just the frosting… leaving just bare cake that looked as if a mouse had nibbled at the edges.
This got me thinking about healthy food, specifically healthy baked goods. I mean, I didn’t feel HORRIBLE eating the cupcake frosting because it wasn’t processed or full of yucky unnatural stuff. Baked goods are my weakness, the moist crumb, the sweetness, the satisfying warmth and a full belly. The problem is most baked goods aren’t healthy at all and the feeling of fullness is quite fleeting as your blood sugars spikes and crashes.
Enter this lovely stuff;
The mixin’s for my latest creation, a zucchini bread with cherries! Now this is not any ordinary zucchini bread, it is packed with healthy omega fats and vitamins, a good bit of fiber and protein, and it’s vegan (but not wheat free). There are a couple of tricks with this recipe, it’s a pretty original creation with whispers of these vegan geniuses and this amazing allergen free gourmand (who is having a great giveaway on her website…go there!).
I realize there are those who cringe at the thought of zucchini season.
I am not one of them, I love everything squashy, zucchini bread, zucchini cookies, zucchini pancakes…and then we get into the wonderous fall squashes and I usually gain ten pounds or so from eating pumpkin EVERYTHING.
As I mentioned before this recipe is vegan, so instead of eggs I used my fancy shmancy new technique of combining flax and chia seeds with 1/3 cup of water and letting the mixture gel for 20 minutes or so.
This is my friend the cherry chomper. He was very hungry this evening and so I had to feed him. Since he eats only the pits I had some lovely cherries to put in the bread.
I had a few dilemma’s tonight. At first I was going to make these into a loaf and some mini muffins but when I mixed the batter it was clearly not mini muffin material. I also felt it really needed a crunchy topping.
Ready for the recipe and a few tricks?
Cherry Omega Zucchini Bread
1 Tbsp chia seeds
2 Tbsp flax-seed meal
1/3 cup water
Combine and let gel for 20 minutes or so, preheat oven to 350.
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup dry sweetener
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated zucchini
1 large grated carrot
Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl. Add:
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup flax oil
1/4 cup water
Mix, mix, mix!!!
Stir in 1 1/2 cups chopped raw cherries and 2 tsp apple cider vinegar and mix.
This is where you move fast because the chemical reaction of the vinegar and baking soda gives you extra rise, so get it in the oven stat! I used 1 greased loaf pan and an 8 inch greased cake pan.
But first…make the crunchy topping
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 Tbsp flax oil
Mix by hand and crumble over the top.
Bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour (the cake pan took about 35 minutes).
This smelled scrumptious as it was baking, you could smell the oats with raw honey toasting and a hint of cherry. The taste is out of this world, moist and filled with flavor, the cherries add a sweet, surprising summer element.
Makes about 20 generous servings
Stats!
Nutrition Facts
Calories 195
Total Fat 8.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 177 mg
Carbohydrate 27.7 g
Fiber 2.9 g
Sugars 13.3 g
Protein 3.3 g
Vitamin A 19%
Vitamin C 4%
Calcium 5%
Iron 5%