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This GF, Vegan Zucchini Bread With Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting Is Healthy Enough To Eat For Breakfast
Is there anyone on the planet who wouldn’t eat chocolate for breakfast if it was actually considered “healthy”? This Zucchini Bread With Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting, from the decadently nourishing Chocolate Every Day: 85+ Plant-Based Recipes for Cacao Treats That Support Your Health and Well-Being, seems too good to be true, but it ticks all the boxes: gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, vegan, and packed with hidden vegetables. Make it for breakfast and spend the rest of the week relishing in the fact that you can have dessert before your eyes are even quite open.
Zucchini Bread With Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting
Makes one 9-by-5-inch loaf
Come summer's end, it seems like everyone on the island is trying to pawn off extra zucchini. Ky remembers her mother baking their zucchini harvest into sweet loaves with a swirly cream cheese frosting, which Ky delivered to friends and neighbors. Here a sweet potato and chocolate frosting updates to this childhood favorite, giving the bread an equally creamy finish without dairy or added sugar. The loaf is not too sweet and, unfrosted, gets deliciously crunchy when toasted.
Ingredients for the bread
- Coconut oil, for greasing the pan
- 2½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 medium bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 small zucchini), squeezed of excess water
- ½ cup pure maple syrup, agave, or raw honey
- ⅓ cup unrefined virgin coconut oil
- 4½ tablespoons apple cider or white vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract or powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Ingredients for frosting
- ¾ cup sweet potato puree, canned or fresh (see note below)
- 8 ounces 72 percent or darker raw chocolate
Method
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Thoroughly grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil and set aside.
- Make the zucchini bread: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides and run on medium speed for another 15 seconds, or until consistently smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the chocolate sweet potato frosting: In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the sweet potato puree until it just begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir vigorously until the chocolate melts and is thoroughly incorporated. Set aside to cool completely. Spread the cooled frosting over the zucchini bread.
Note: To make fresh sweet potato puree, peel one large sweet potato and cut into chunks. In a small saucepan, cover the potato with water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the potato is tender and pierces easily with a fork. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.
Based on excerpts from Chocolate Every Day: 85+ Plant-Based Recipes for Cacao Treats That Support Your Health and Well-Being by Bennett Coffey and Kyleen Keenan, with the permission of Avery, a division of Penguin Random House. Copyright © 2018.
