CINNAMON RAISIN ZUCCHINI BREAD {Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free}

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Friends, I’m absolutely thrilled to bring you my first recipe incorporating produce from our very own Country Garden today! While I took a hiatus from publishing new recipes here at JustineCelina, you better believe I continued my testing and development process offline — and I’m returning to these pages more inspired than ever. You see, back in 2020 my amazing Mom and I embarked on the journey of planting our first (pandemic) garden — something we’d always wanted to do, but seemingly never had time for. Fast forward to summer 2022 and we’ve been fortunate to experience 3 successful gardening seasons full of getting our hands dirty, growing food from seed, enjoying abundant harvests, cooking, baking and recipe making! It brings me great joy to to begin sharing scenes and snippets from our idillic Alberta garden — along with a plethora of fresh, thoroughly tested, plant based, garden-to-table recipes!

Naturally, I wanted my introductory garden-inspired recipe to be a cherished family favourite that I’ve completely revamped to be free of dairy, gluten and refined sugar for those of us with allergies and intolerances — Cinnamon Raisin Zucchini Bread! Deceptively decadent and ultra moist, this comforting, veggie-centric, gently spiced loaf incorporates 2 full cups of zucchini — my absolute favourite way to put overgrown garden goodies to good use. Elevated pantry staples of gluten free flour, golden cane sugar, free range eggs, extra virgin olive oil, oat milk and pure vanilla extract combine with shredded (fresh or frozen) zucchini, sultana raisins, a kiss of cinnamon and a dash of cloves to create a rich, caramelly loaf with a streuselly top. Enjoy a slice with your morning coffee for a nourishing breakfast, or as a satiating afternoon snack alongside herbal tea to fuel your day with plant powered energy! 

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CINNAMON RAISIN ZUCCHINI BREAD
{Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free}

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By far, zucchini is the most abundant vegetable we’ve planted in our Country Garden! Friends and family warned us that we planted enough of this prolific crop to start our own farmers market — but we didn’t mind one bit. Zucchini is one of our favourite things to grow due to its versatility — I love to enjoy it in baking, in zoodle format, sautéed, stirfryed and in soups! That said, I hope you love zucchini just as much as I do (or else you probably wouldn’t be here, would you?!) — because you can expect tons of zucchini recipes coming to JustineCelina for as long as our Country Garden keeps producing it! 

That said, due to the volume of our zucchini production (and despite our best efforts!), sometimes we leave it on the vine a bit too long and it becomes overgrown. Last summer was a bumper year for our yellow and green zucchini — and the largest one we grew was literally bigger than my arm!  

If you frequent my RECIPE archives, you’ll likely be familiar with my (as close to) zero waste as possible food philosophy. It’s how I was raised — and now, more than ever, it’s something I take very seriously. Absolutely no garden produce goes to waste in the JustineCelina kitchen, no matter how overgrown it may be!

While it’s true that overgrown zucchini isn’t quite as tasty as the smaller, more succulent varieties that were harvested earlier (the size you typically see in grocery stores and at farmers markets!), you can absolutely still use it in baking. Personally, I love to shred it up to use in this Cinnamon Raisin Zucchini Bread recipe, as well as my Nourishing Zucchini Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (publishing soon!). And if I can’t use it all at once, I like to freeze it in individual reusable silicone bags. As you’ll see, you can use either fresh or frozen shredded zucchini in this recipe and it turns out perfectly! 

This is one of those loaves that’s absolutely delicious fresh out of the oven, with a crisp, streuselly outer edge. If you store it in an airtight container (I wrap it in aluminum foil, then seal it in a reusable silicone bag), the crust softens and becomes more moist and cake-like as time goes on — that’s when I photographed this recipe. It’s delicious both ways! You could also try this recipe in muffin form, but you’ll have to keep an eye on the baking time (I’d suggest 40 – 50 minutes). If you make muffins, let me know how it works out for you and I’ll update the recipe!

The best part? If you don’t require this recipe to to be gluten free, dairy free, or refined sugar free you can absolutely make substitutes. Try swapping the gluten free all purpose flour blend for regular all purpose flour and feel free to use whatever milk and sugar suit your dietary needs (just be mindful of baking time in my recipe notes!). If you are going with the gluten free version, it’s important to use a pre made gluten free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. You can find them at any major grocery store, but my favourite, the one I used in this recipe and one of the most readily available is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. 

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Ingredients

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Yield: 1 loaf

WET

• 2 cup grated zucchini (use fresh or frozen and thawed — just drain the majority of excess fluid)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup oat milk 
• 2 large free range eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

DRY

• 2 cups all purpose gluten free baking mix (make sure it includes xanthan gum!)
• 1 1/2 cups golden cane sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt 
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves 
• 3/4 cup sultana raisins, dusted with flour 

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Instructions

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1. Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Grease 1 standard loaf pan with olive oil and set aside.

2. Add grated zucchini, olive oil, oat milk, eggs and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined.

3. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (excluding raisins).

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, stirring to combine thoroughly. Dust raisins with gluten free flour blend before gently folding into the mixture (this helps them not sink to the bottom of the loaf!). 

5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 75 minutes, or until the top is a rich, golden brown and a toothpick comes out of the centre of the loaf mostly clean.

6. After removing from the oven, use a knife to free the sides of the bread from the pan. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before flipping upside down onto a cooking rack. Let sit for 5 minutes and shake the loaf from the pan. Place the loaf right side up and allow to cool 15 minutes before slicing. 

7. Once partially cooled, slice and serve immediately. It’s especially delicious warm with vegan butter!

Notes:
• This loaf keeps for up to a week, unrefrigerated. 
• This loaf freezes very well! I like to wrap it in aluminum foil, then seal it in a reusable silicone bag before popping it into the freezer.

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SHOP MY BAKING & DINNERWARE FAVOURITES

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MORE PLANT BASED SUMMER BAKING & BREAKFAST IDEAS

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Gluten Free Saskatoon Citrus Banana Bread

Superfood Peach Pie Smoothie Bowls

Wild Saskatoon Berry Crumble

Protein Packed Cherry Almond Granola

Nourishing Zucchini Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (publishing soon!)

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What are some of your favourite ways to use up zucchini — especially the overgrown, garden variety? While I have a soft spot for shredded zucchini in baking because of how moist and delicious it makes everything, zoodle recipes are another go-to in the JustineCelina kitchen! I highly recommend purchasing a spiralizer if you don’t already own one — I find myself using it often during the summer months. I also shred and spiralize zucchini to freeze and use throughout the year! If you’re looking for some zoodle inspiration, check out my Carrot Cashew Zoodles with Crispy Sesame Tofu (it’s an oldie but a goodie!). 

Did you try my Cinnamon Raisin Zucchini Bread? If you did, please let me know! Leave me a comment, or tag me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. You can use the hashtag #justinecelinarecipes so I can find them — I love scrolling through the feed and discovering your recreations! I also have a Pinterest board for my recipes if you’re looking for more plant based culinary inspiration. Wishing you all a successful gardening season! 

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Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored and contains my genuine thoughts, ideas and recommendations. JustineCelina uses affiliate and referral links, which allow me to receive a small commission when you make a purchase through one of my links. Thank you for supporting the brands and businesses that support JustineCelina.com!