I’m not on the Paleo Diet and I don’t have a gluten intolerance, but I do like to eat healthy whenever possible. We also like to grow vegetables in our tiny urban garden, in our postage stamp sized yard, and are always surprised by the vegetation we get. This year we decided to grow zucchini since it’s one of our favorite vegetables that everyone (including the pickiest of our eaters) enjoys. What grew out there in our teeny tiny patch or earth was something monstrous and unearthly. We had a massive, ginormous, beast of a zucchini taking over our yard. My husband’s zealous excitement over the size of our prize winning zucchini was soon dashed by my revelation that they are not supposed to be that big, and in fact, are far more bitter when they get to be that size. Nonetheless, we had some zucchini to eat and I had to figure out what the best way to serve up such a monster would be.

I’m not much of a baker, but my friend had given me some Trader Joe’s Coconut Flour when she was moving, so I decided to try my hand at making some bread. I added coconut flakes, chocolate chips, and used organic agave to sweeten it with, but you could try nuts instead to make it a bit healthier and maple syrup to make it Paleo.

The coconut flour doesn’t hold together quite as well as wheat flour, but I personally found both the taste and the texture to be close to 10 on the craveability scale.

Here’s the recipe and how I made it,

Ingredients:

1 cup Coconut Flour                              1/2 cup Coconut Oil

1/2 tsp Salt                                              3/4 cup Organic Agave, Pure Maple Syrup or Cane Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda                             1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Baking Powder                        1 cup grated Zucchini

1 tsp ground cinnamon                      1/2 Sweetened Coconut Flakes

2 eggs                                                      1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Grease and flour 8 x 4 inch baking pan

3. Combine coconut flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl and sift together

4. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and agave until blended. Add Flour mixture and beat well.

5. Stir in grated zucchini, coconut flakes and chocolate chips and pour batter into pan.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan or on a wire cooling rack for 10+ minutes.

Bon Appetit!