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Toddlers are infamous for being picky eaters, and veggies are number one on the picky eater checklist. If you have trouble getting your children (ahem, of all ages) to eat veggies, bread is a fantastic place to start, especially for toddlers who need up to 65% of their daily calories from carbs! Now zucchini bread is a daily snack and my daughter’s favorite meal of the day!
Handing my daughter any other form of zucchini, from shredded raw to cooked zoodles and everything in between, she will turn up her nose at it. Out of desperation really I started experimenting with making zucchini bread (after a zucchini explosion from my garden) until I settled on this combination which is equally moist and flaky like a cake to make my baby girl happy, but arguably more importantly, still make mama happy ingredient-wise.
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This recipe is so easy to adjust for allergies. Honey allergies? Use sugar. Egg allergy? Use applesauce or pumpkin for some delicious pumpkin zucchini flavor! Gluten allergy? Use your favorite GF flour! You can easily make simple adjustments to make this gluten-free or vegan! Here’s what you will need:
Ingredients:
- 1 medium zucchini, shredded (about 2+ cups once shredded)
- 1/2 cup honey OR 1 cup sugar
- 1.5 cup choice flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup water *reduce by half if using applesauce or pumpkin
- 2 eggs OR 1/2 cup applesauce OR 1/2 cup pumpkin for
- 1 TSP Baking Soda
- 1/2 TSP Baking Powder
- Optional: 1 TBSP cinnamon and/or 1 TSP lemon juice
- Add additional sugar or honey if you prefer it sweeter
Zucchini Bread Instructions:
Simply mix all of the ingredients together, add to a parchment-lined loaf pan. The parchment isn’t absolutely necessary but I prefer it for easy cleanup. You could also use a silicone loaf pan. I haven’t used one for this recipe yet, but I LOVE the silicone pans for other things!
Bake at 300 degrees for approximately an hour. I start checking after 40 minutes. My oven takes about 55 minutes, yours may differ depending on how accurate the temperature is and your elevation! When a toothpick comes out clean, you’re done! Leave on a cooling rack for 5 minutes before pulling out of the pan. You may be tempted to crank up the heat to speed things up, but I find the bread comes out far more consistent and even baked at a lower temperature for longer!
Your loaf should last 3 days on the counter, one week in a sealed container in the fridge, or up to 3 months in the freezer*.
*Freezing Instructions:
I wait until the loaf is cool, cut in half, wrap in the parchment paper and put it into a ziplock bag with air taken out (speaking of silicone, I recently converted to silicone reusable bags and they are amazing – goodbye plastic!). I unfreeze half a loaf at a time because it will dry out much quicker after freezing. To thaw, place the frozen loaf on a baking tray, bake at 375 for 5 minutes. Store in a container in the fridge should last 2-3 days.
Enjoy your toddler approved zucchini bread! My daughter is ADDICTED (ok, so am I)! Let me know if you’ve tried this!
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