Zucchini Banana Bread – A Delicious and Nutritious Home Made Recipe

Intro

For those who like to take time in the kitchen, but also like to ensure that they’re eating healthy and nutritious food, it can be difficult to find foods that are easy to make, but don’t compromise the nutritional value of what you’re consuming. Fortunately, though, zucchini banana bread is an excellent option for just such people. It’s one of the most popular homemade recipes out there, and has been enjoyed by all kinds of people from all walks of life since it was first made in the early 1800s.

Why this is a great recipe?

When you look at zucchini recipes, sometimes it seems like every main dish turns out to be a casserole, which can get boring after a while. This one skips all that by turning an old favorite into a main dish! It’s nutritious, delicious, and even better – simple to make. We’ve learned all over the years that when in doubt, start with a main dish recipe; if it tastes good as a side or starter dish then you have succeeded in baking something worthwhile! If not, you might have to alter your recipe just a bit more until it is tasty enough for everyone to enjoy! Give this recipe a try and let us know what you think of it in our comments section below. If you need some inspiration on what main dishes are great to serve up alongside your bread (or vice versa), check out other posts on this website. And remember: You don’t need any special equipment for cooking or baking – just use whatever tools you already have lying around! That’s part of what makes cooking so fun!

The ingredients you will need

• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar (or substitute brown sugar)
• 3 eggs.
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 medium zucchini, shredded on box grater
• 1 medium banana, peeled and mashed
• 4 ounces coarsely chopped walnuts
• 6 ounces dried cranberries
• 4 ounces golden raisins optional glaze

Note that Ingredients can be changed to better suit personal taste.

The method

1. Measure out all of your ingredients
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Grease two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
4. In a food processor, pulse together nuts, dried fruit and granulated sugar until finely ground.
5. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; stir in flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and cinnamon until combined.
6. Stir well with a wire whisk.
7.  In another bowl whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla until smooth.
8. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; stir just until combined
9. Fold in zucchini shreds (discard liquid), bananas and nuts; pour batter into prepared pans.
10. Bake for 60–70 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean from center of loaves; if bread is browning too quickly cover loosely with foil for remaining baking time.
11. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
12. Slice bread as desired and serve warm. Enjoy!

How to store Freshly baked Zucchini Banana Bread

Freshly baked zucchini banana bread can be stored just like any other bread for it to remain fresh. I like to wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or pack it air-tightly in a sealable plastic bag. Alternatively, you can throw it into an air tight plastic container then keep it in fridge just to be sure that it remains fresh.

Allowing the bread to cool properly will give an effective result in storage

Tips/Hints and Variations in making Zucchini Banana Bread a main dish recipe

1. Cooking zucchini is a lot like cooking pasta.
2. Choose either yellow or green zucchini for a milder taste or red for something with more spice. This makes for an excellent main dish recipe on busy weeknights because it cooks so quickly (only 20 minutes!), but also stores well if there are leftovers; just wrap individual slices in plastic wrap or foil to enjoy later. It’s not quite as moist as traditional banana bread, which usually contains oil, but still pretty good. Enjoy! 🙂
3. You should use fresh over frozen bananas every single time here. You won’t get nearly as much fiber out of frozen ones as you will from fresh ones.
4. To get even more, throw some flax seeds into your mixture at step 2 before adding any other ingredients, they should be pre-ground so they mix right in without any issues later on down the line. Just don’t put them right near your oven heat source when baking!
5. Using sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter brings a nice bit of variety here too and gives it some extra protein while lowering fat content to boot since sunflower seeds contain fewer calories than peanuts do per ounce.

Read more…..

Nutritional Value of Zucchini Banana Bread

Whether you enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or as a snack in between meals, zucchini banana bread is one of those recipes that can easily fit into any nutritional plan. Zucchini is low in saturated fat and cholesterol free. It’s also a good source of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, dietary fiber and B vitamins. Bananas are also cholesterol free and packed with manganese, folate and vitamin B6 as well as being rich in potassium. With all these nutrients from zucchini banana bread baking recipe, you can enjoy sweet treat without sacrificing your health. If making for breakfast or snacking on during days when calorie counting is necessary, simply reduce serving size to one slice instead of two to help keep portion sizes under control.

Other Useful Resources: Read more here……