• 3 eggs
  • 1 c applesauce
  • 1 c white sugar
  • 1/4 c dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2 medium zucchini, grated (about 2 cups)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 c flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 and 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch cloves
  • pinch nutmeg

So it’s finally Spring (crossing my fingers for no freak April blizzards), and with that comes a change in my eating habits. I wake up in the dark for work now (thank you, Daylight Savings), and while I am a serious morning person, waking up without sunshine requires a little extra push. Knowing that there’s a French press full of cold-brewed coffee and a quick and delicious breakfast in the kitchen makes getting out of bed all the more easy. And, on my days off, when I’m chewing at the bit to go outside, having something to grab and eat is the best way to go. It’s hard to stand over a pan, poking at your eggs, when you know you have a bike and hours of sunshine right at your fingertips.

Spring also means that the farmer’s market is just weeks away from bursting with new produce for me to load up on week after week.

Enter zucchini bread. Tasty, moist, and requiring little-to-no preparation to eat (maybe a quick pop in the toaster and some butter on top), zucchini bread combines the light flavors of spring and summer (zucchini, apples) with the warm flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla that are sure to lure you out of bed on the darkest morning. Most recipes for zucchini bread call for about 2/3 to 1 cup of oil.  And while I am known to throw endless amounts of butter into something, I decided to create my own recipe that uses apple sauce instead of oil. Best part about this Spring-y recipe ? It takes about 10 minutes to assemble, and then you have over an hour to relax outside while it bakes and fills your house with the smell of sugar and cinnamon.

Zucchini Bread
(adapted from various recipes, mostly from allrecipes.com)

Butter and flour a 9×5 loaf pan, then preheat the oven to 350.  Next, grate the zucchini and set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs. Next add the applesauce, both sugars, and vanilla and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Gently stir in the grated zucchini.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices). Then gently stir into the wet mixture until uniform.

Pour into the loaf pan and bake for an hour and ten minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the middle of the loaf (check around an hour, all ovens are different !). Let cool, then cut into thick slabs and eat !! A perfect Spring treat, especially when paired with a brown-sugar mint julep and an afternoon on the porch.

-K