Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

I just finished planting my garden and dedicated a section for zucchini plants because there is nothing better than the smell of zucchini bread baking in the oven. My mother used to make a lot of zucchini bread in the summer and fall (my dad would plant a large garden every year) and the smell brings back all the feels of summer as a kid. As with many of my gluten free baked good recipes, this recipe went through several renditions before reaching perfection. Baking with gluten-free and grain-free flours can be a bit tricky and finding the right balance is important when attempting to develop recipes that taste as good as something made with traditional white flour. I played around with making this recipe grain free versus gluten-free and honestly, adding oat flour, which is gluten free but not grain free made the texture of the bread more reminiscent of the zucchini bread my mom would make. This gluten free recipe is just as good as any non-gluten free bread I can remember, and my kids really love it too. This recipe makes 2 loaves.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of grated zucchini
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup avocado oil
• ½ cup almond milk
• 4 eggs (For vegan version use 4 egg equivalents of Bob’s Red Mills vegan egg mix)
• 1 cup sugar (you can use coconut sugar for healthier option)
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 cup “1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour” from Bob’s Red Mills
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grate the zucchini and place on a paper towel; squeezing any excess water from the shreds.
3. Grease two loaf pans with avocado or coconut oil spray
4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs or vegan eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and almond milk until well combined. I typically use an electric hand beater for this step.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt and then add them to the wet ingredients using a wooden spoon. You want to thoroughly combine the ingredients so they are well blended but avoid over beating the mixture or using an electric hand beater for this step because it can affect the tenderness and texture of the loaf.
6. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chip until well combined.
7. Pour batter evenly into the 2 prepared pans.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour. You should be able to see that the edges are slightly golden brown, and the center of the loaf is firm when you press gently. Cool the loaves for at least 30 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to complete cooling.
9. Enjoy!