Seriously — is that bread a thing of beauty, or what? I’ve been tweaking Marilu Henner’s recipe for healthy zucchini bread for years. I find her recipe has far too much oil. No, I’m not being overly healthy — it has stained my cloth napkins that I line my bread basket with, it’s so greasy. That not appetizing, Marilu, that’s just gross.

Even though she uses healthy sugars, I prefer to cut down the amount of sugar she suggests in her recipe as well. There’s a certain ratio of sugar to zucchini that’s just right in my estimation; when you go beyond this, the zucchini doesn’t shine on its own and is actually highlighted in a negative way by too much sugar.

This particular bread was served right alongside the traditional pumpkin bread at Thanksgiving this year and was enjoyed by one and all — even the not-so-healthy eaters in the family. It’s a wonderful breakfast bread too, and complements a frittata, breakfast meats and even a bowl of cereal.

Here’s the recipe with my tweaks, exactly as I made it in the picture above. I’ll list some of the variations I’ve tried over the years as well, so you can decide what works for your family. I like this version the best because the bread rises the way I like it.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup rice bran oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup palm sugar and turbinado sugar combined
• 2 cups grated, unpeeled raw zucchini
• 2 cups sprouted spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 scant teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter (or spray with canola oil) a 9×5 loaf pan. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars and vanilla until light and thick. Fold grated zucchini into oil mixture.

Mix dry ingredients together well. Stir into zucchini mixture until just blended. Pour into buttered loaf pan. Bake on middle rack of oven for 55 minutes to an hour or so, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from pan, and cool completely on a rack.

Variations:

• I’ve used 1/2 cup almond butter and 1/2 cup applesauce for the fat, but it doesn’t rise as nicely. It’s delicious, though!
• I’ve used melted organic unsalted butter and applesauce too, which works.
• Yeah, I went there: I added chocolate chips.
• When Owen was allergic to eggs, I used egg replacer, but it didn’t rise as nicely. It does work, though!