I invented this healthy banana zucchini bread recipe as a way to provide veggies, proteins, and healthy fats for my picky toddler and ended up with a breakfast the whole family likes.  How’s that for a win?

Those of you who know me, know that I like to eat but I do NOT like to cook.  Preparing healthy food for my growing brood is important to me and has forced me to seek out recipes that will fill their nutrition tanks with little effort on my part.  It sounds kinda lazy doesn’t it?  LOL  Oh well, that’s just the way it is!

I have found that blender breads make a delicious and easy bread and veggies of all kinds can easily be hidden.

What to do with All the Garden Zucchini?

If you’ve ever grown zucchini, you know it provides abundant produce! What to do with all the zucchini?  Make this healthy banana zucchini bread, of course 🙂

Other ways that I use zucchini include:

• Chop up raw and eat in a salad
• Chop and and saute in butter and salt
• Chop and roast in oven along with peppers and onions
• Shred and use in traditional zucchini bread recipes
• Finely chop and saute to use in place of rice

Zucchini noodles are popular right now.  I have never made them myself, but Jessica Gavin has an excellent post with detailed instructions about making zucchini noodles.

How to Freeze Zucchini

Zucchini is very easy to freeze so this bread can be enjoyed all winter. Wash and cut zucchini into chunks, place in freezer bags, and pop into freezer. Thaw and drain excess water before baking into bread.  Zucchini can also be shredded instead of chopped.

Some people blanch their zucchini before freezing and claim it holds it’s texture better.  You might consider that if you are not blending it up in a bread.

Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

We have been gluten free for many years now and baking without flour was something that took me a long time to figure out!  For me, and my limited baking abilities 😉 a combination of almond meal and oatmeal works best.

For gluten free zucchini bread, I found that it is best to bake it in a 8×8 pan and cut into bars.  Sometimes almond meal can be a bit “doughy” and full bread loaves fall apart.  Muffins work well also!

Healthy Banana Zucchini Bread

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 cup old fashion oats
• 1 cup almond meal/four (if this is something you don’t readily have on hand, it works well with 2 c oats)
• 1 TBS coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar (I often skip this, but the kids will tell you it’s better with a little sugar lol)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roughly chop zucchini and bananas and put into blender.  Place remaining ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  Use a spatula to scrape food that sticks to the sides.  Pour into a greased 8×8 baking dish and bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when placed in center of bread.  Once cool cut into squares and enjoy.

Am I right?  Easiest healthy banana zucchini bread ever!

I have made several variations of this which you might also want to try.  Zucchini can be swapped out for two medium cooked carrots.  The sugar can be omitted and 1/2 a cup of mini chocolate chips can be added after the batter is blended.  We also tried it once with a cup of raspberries instead of veggies.  I heard a complaint that it was tart without the sugar, but I liked it.

Another good recipe I use to provide veggies without complaints is Creamy Harvest Tomato Soup.

You might also enjoy these gardening posts!

Raised Beds: What Worked and What Didn’t

How a Garden Grows Character in Children of All Ages

5 Things I’ve Learned about Gardening