healthy zucchini bread

with its cool crisp mornings and hot afternoon rain showers, late summer also brings a bounty of zucchini. the end of summer is one of my favorite times of year. not just for all the squash, but for the turning of the seasons and the relief and comfort that brings me. i can still enjoy the easy-breezy feeling of summer, but the days are growing shorter and less stifling and the nights are becoming cooler and more quiet.

with the abundance of zucchini, dinah and i have been cooking and baking with it often. we made skinny chocolate muffins last week (that were just meh, so I didn't keep the recipe), and we made calabacitas, minestrone, and ratatouille earlier this month as well. this week though, we made my favorite: zucchini bread. there are a million zucchini bread recipes out there and it's a bread that's pretty difficult to screw up, but following our trend of healthy snacking this summer, i found a healthy, but also delicious and very moist zucchini bread recipe. it turned out great. i got the recipe here, but made a few changes, like using less honey and adding extra cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips.

healthy zucchini bread

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon (mine were heaping, i really like cinnamon)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 c. plain whole milk yogurt
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. organic raw honey
2 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. grated zucchini, be sure to squeeze ALL the water out
1/4-1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. in a large bowl, combine flours, and other dry ingredients. in a different bowl, whisk the egg into the yogurt, then mix in oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. add in grated zucchini, then fold in flour mixture. once combined, throw in a handful (or two) of chocolate chips. pour into prepared pan. bake for 45-60 minutes. mine took an hour and ten minutes, or so. just bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. remove bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. apparently, there are only like 150 calories per slice, so eat up!

avocado brownies

whoa, it's been too long since I've blogged! we are finally moved and settled into our new house and finally, i can start cookin' in the kitchen with my dinah girl again. the kitchen in our new house is, well, far from ideal, but we are making do. it's a small, cramped and poorly designed 1930s kitchen. charming, yes. functional, not really. however, even with little workspace, dinah and i (and now baby charlie too) have made plenty of delicious dishes since moving here.

today, we made brownies. healthy brownies at that! it's june in albuquerque. it's freakin' hot and it's the time of year i like to cut back on sugar. i'm also eight months postpartum and still hanging onto some baby weight i'd be happy to shed. but, unfortunately, i still love sweets. and so does dinah. our solution - make healthy sweets! first up, avocado brownies.

this was my first time making this recipe and i was a little skeptical. i love avocado...on my burritos, but in my desserts, hmm. turns out, you can't taste it all, but only taste a rich cocoa flavor instead. the syrup and applesauce make it just sweet enough to feel like you're kinda sorta still indulging in the real deal. and the texture; ooooh, ooey gooey perfection. i could, and almost did, eat an entire pan in one setting. if i didn't have my darling three-year-old's big puppy dog eyes begging at me, i just may have.

healthy brownies

avocado brownies

1 large avocado

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup peanut butter chips (optional)

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. combine avocado, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla in a food processer until smooth. whisk in three eggs. add flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. fold in optional baking chips (i used peanut butter chips, because that's what we had in the cupboard). greast an 8x8 inch baking dish with coconut oil and add batter. bake for about 20-25 minutes. more time for cake-like brownies, less for fudgier brownies.