The skinny on zucchini bread: a recipe for zucchini bread that cuts the fat but not the flavor

Vegetarian Times, August, 1997 by Carol Wiley Lorente

Zucchini. Just saying the word to a gardener -- or to the neighbor of a gardener -- conjures up visions of the Little Shop of Horrors, where gigantic squash loom larger and larger with each passing day.

If you know anything about growing vegetables, you know that a zucchini can be a blessing (so easy to grow) and a curse (it grows an grows and grows). If you don't pluck the little rascals from the garden when they're young and tender, you're in for elephantine squash in a very short time.

It's a good thing zucchini is so versatile. Zucchini's somewhat benign taste and texture make it good for absorbing flavor. You can throw it on the grill, toss it into a salad, add it to a stir-fry or bake it into a bread.

The zucchini bread from my childhood was rich with nuts a slathered with butter. I though it would be easy to find a low-fat recipe for zucchini bread, but it wasn't.

I finally ended up converting a favorite carrot bread recipe to zucchini bread. After a few ties, I came up with a moist, low-fat, not-too-sweet version that has less than 1 gram of fat per slice (5 percent of calories from fat). Even with the addition of optional pecans, the bread has fewer than 3 grams of fat per slice. This recipe also yields a large loaf. And because each loaf requires 2 cups of grated zucchini, you'll be prepared when you find a shopping bag full of squash on your porch, a gift from your neighborhood Little Shop of Horrors.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 large egg plus 1 egg white, or 1 Tbs. Egg
Replacer mixed with 4 Tbs. water
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup skim milk, rice milk or soymilk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (1 medium)