Vegan Zucchini Bread with Apple Butter
Vegan Zucchini Bread with Apple Butter
Mornings in Lake Norman give me all of the autumn vibes I crave this time of year, and my favorite place to observe them is from the comfort of my screened-in back porch. The maple leaves have turned bright red, there’s a chill in the air, and the squirrels are dropping hickory nuts from the tree tops like winter begins tomorrow. Never mind that afternoons still border 80 degrees. My mind and wardrobe are in full fall mode, and I’ll sweat it out in this turtleneck until mother nature catches up. I think of it as fashion over function.
Fooling yourself that 80 degrees is cool enough for a turtleneck is like convincing yourself that zucchini bread is healthy because of the vegetable content. Nevertheless, I love to bake zucchini bread in the fall and through the holidays. It’s a nice departure from banana bread and more unexpected than pumpkin bread in October. Truth be told, I baked so many loaves of banana bread in 2020, like many Americans on lock down, that I’m on hiatus. The recipe below produces two loaves of bread which makes it easy to freeze one and reserve for when you have company. I love anything that makes entertaining feel effortless.
I’ve been using the same zucchini bread recipe for the past ten years. I found it on a blog called “Hell Yeah It’s Vegan”. I wasn’t searching for a vegan recipe in particular, but this one is so good I’ve not made zucchini bread any other way. It’s super moist and packed with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. In light of my current apple butter obsession, I couldn’t help but add some into the mix this year. With similar flavors, the apple butter subtly elevates the warming spices without making the bread it too sweet. And while this defeats the purpose of making it vegan, I like to coat my loaf pans in butter and turbinado sugar before pouring in the batter. It gives each bite a little something extra. If you’d like to keep the recipe vegan, you could always substitute with a plant based buttery spread or use a non-stick baking spray.
I hope you enjoy it! I’m going to go change out of this turtleneck now.
Vegan Zucchini Bread with Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp of raw sugar
- 6 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/4 cup apple butter (or 1/2 cup applesauce)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- With the room temperature butter, grease two loaf pans. Add a tablespoon of raw sugar to each. Tilt the pans to distribute the sugar evenly around and tap out any excess.
- Stir the flax seeds into the warm water until combined.
- Add the sugar, oil, apple butter and vanilla into a large bowl and beat well.
- Add the grated zucchini to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the remaining dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Don't over mix - just until everything is blended evenly.
- Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
