Sometimes the best gifts are ones that are inexpensive and made with love.
Anytime I visit a friend’s house or I know I’ll have a lot of gifts to give at one time {such as Christmas} I like to give baked goods…with a little touch of course. Last year I gave my friends and family Yummy Mummy’s cherry oat scones in a jar which turned out to be such a huge hit, so when I saw these mini lemon-poppy seed zucchini breads I just had to make them!Now zucchini is such a fabulous ingredient in breads because it keeps the bread moist and has such a subtle flavor that doesn’t overpower the sweetness we all love so much. It’s also a great way to sneak in veggies without anyone knowing! Chris sure didn’t and he scarfed this right up.
I did make my own substitutions in this recipe to keep it low in calories and fat, but still wanted to maintain the same great taste. I cut out half the butter and used unsweetened applesauce, I used less sugar since the lemon zest already adds to the sweetness and also used fat-free plain yogurt in place of the sour cream. There is also no oil used in this bread which I loved!You could also substitute whole wheat pastry flour for half of the all-purpose flour, but I didn’t have any on hand so I just used what I had. There really is no reason at all why people should use tons of butter and oil in their recipes, you can still have delicious quick-breads for half the calories!
Throw in a little burlap and some twine and your friends will enjoy this too!
RECIPE
Lemon-Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread
Recipe adapted from Southern Living
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 4 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp. poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Beat butter and applesauce at a low speed with your stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at a low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in shredded zucchini, lemon zest and poppy seeds. Spoon batter into 3 greased 5 x 3-inch loaf pans (I used disposable aluminum ones) about 1 1/3 cups batter per pan.
- Bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and remove bread from pans. Enjoy!
Notes
Serving Size: 2 slices • Calories: 173 • Fat: 5 g • Carbs: 29.2 g • Fiber: 0.9 g • Protein: 3.8 g • WW Points+: 5 pts
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