Happy Kelly

One of the major downsides of eating gluten-free is the deprivation of baked goods one experiences, especially in social situations. You'll be sitting at someone's lovely brunch and while everyone else is oohing and ahhing over the homemade blueberry scones or the divine banana bread, you're eating plateloads of fresh fruit to keep yourself busy. Perhaps a little egg bake too. But the aforementioned "one" is quite bitter inside...

(And don't go thinkin' "Why can't they just fudge once in awhile and eat food with gluten?" I will spare you the details of the results when "one" does this... suffice it to say, it's not pretty).

Hurray! The day has come... "One" is bitter is no more! I made a gluten-free zucchini bread this morning (pictured to the right) and it is ONE. HAPPY. DAY. here at my house. Moist, sweet (but not too sweet), perfect. And used a friend's backyard zucchini. Yay seasonal, local, organic cooking.

I found the recipe on the interweb. The key ingredient is finding a gluten-free ("GF" for those in the know) all-purpose flour. I have found success with two -- Beth's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour and faithful old Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Baking Flour.

Ingredients (I made a half-batch for this trial run. Worked perfectly)

• 3 cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded zucchini

Mixing and Baking

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Grease two 9 x 5 loaf pans
3. In a medium bowl sift together all purpose gluten free flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
4. In a large bowl beat together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.
5. Once mixture is creamy stir in shredded zucchini.
6. Slowly mix together dry parts into zucchini mixture.
7. You may also want to add walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips.
8. Pour mixture evenly into loaf pans and place in oven.
9. Let bake for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick or other tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf.
10. Let bread cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Ingredient Modifications

• Substitute one cup applesauce for one cup vegetable oil (I did this)
  
• Substitute one part maple syrup for one part white sugar. You may want to substitute half of the sugar for maple syrup instead of the whole amount. (recipe would change as follows: 1 1/8 cup white sugar, 1 1/8 cup maple syrup). (ever the rule breaker, I went my own way -- I did 2/3 white sugar, 1/3 agave)