Aunt Joyce's Zucchini Bread - Veganized

Growing up, my Great Aunt Joyce (my grandmother’s older sister) lived a few minutes down the road. She regularly dropped by on Saturday afternoons in between running errands. Her visits were always accompanied by a bag of warm freshly baked muffins. These muffins were always filled with a little surprise. Depending on what she had in the house, there could be dried or fresh fruit, nuts, or vegetables like zucchini. As a child, we only ever made muffins from a mix, so I assumed that she was to and simply adding some mix-ins. Well as an adult I learned I was wrong for the most part. There were weeks where she would have a bran muffin mix. But for the most part, she was scratch baking up muffins each week.

Connecting the muffins to zucchini bread – when I went away to college, I received a copy of our extended family’s cookbook. As formally mentioned in my Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole post, this cookbook was a collect of recipes family members submitted. Well, a few months ago, I wanted to make zucchini bread for the first time in a while, so I decided to check the cookbook to see if there was a zucchini bread recipe. I then discovered that the only zucchini bread recipe within the cookbook was submitted by my Great Aunt Joyce! Little did I know that some of those muffins I grew up eating had been made with this recipe baked in muffin tins rather than a loaf pan.

After reading the recipe, I was pleased to see that the main substitution to veganize the recipe was for the 3 eggs. Now, three eggs are a decent amount, so I knew they were binding as well as helping the rise of the bread. To compensate I used my go to flax seed meal egg and knew that a little baking soda addition would bring the lift while the flax help hold everything together. Other areas I played with was slight reducing the sweeten and the optional addition of a little whole wheat flour (which then needed a light liquid increase). My first attempt turned out okay, but the texture was not quite right. So I decided to counter the baking soda called for in the original with a little dairy-free milk plus apple cider vinegar to up the acidity. And that was the key.

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Aunt Joyce’s Zucchini Bread Veganized

Ingredients

3 Flax Eggs – 3 Tbsp Flax Seed Meal & ½ c + 1 Tbsp Water

240g / 2 c All Purpose Flour

106g / 1 c minus 1 Tbsp Whole Wheat Flour (or more AP Flour)

1 tsp Baking Soda

¾ tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg (or more Cinnamon)

1 tsp Salt

149g / ¾ c Oil (Vegetable, Avocado, etc.)

147g / 2/3 c Raw Sugar (or granulated)

1 tsp Vanilla

59g / 3 Tbsp Maple Syrup

40g / 2 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk

12g / ½ Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

300g / 2 c (packed) Zucchini (grated and squeeze out before measuring)

Optional: ½ c Walnuts (chopped)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix flax egg - 3 flax seed meal with & ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon water to allow it to gel.

3. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the 240g (2 cup) all purpose flour, 106g (1 cup minus 1 tablespoon) whole wheat flour (or more AP flour), 1 tsp baking soda. ¾ tsp baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg (or more cinnamon), and 1 tsp salt. Set aside.

4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the 149g (¾ c) oil and 147g (2/3 c) sugar. Whisk in the flax egg and continue mixing for two minutes until slightly fluffy.

5. Add the 1 tsp Vanilla, 59g (3 Tbsp) maple syrup, 40g (2 Tbsp) non-dairy milk, and 12g (½ Tbsp) apple cider vinegar and beat until combined.

6. Stir in the flour mixture until only a few floury dry areas remain. Add in the zucchini and nuts (if using) and stir until evenly distributed. Be careful to no over mix.

7. Pour into a greased or lined bread tin(s) (2 - 9x5x3 or 1 large loaf) and bake for about 50 minutes for two loaves or 65-70 minutes for one large loaf or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before attempting to remove.