17 | May | 2011 | Live. Learn. Love. Eat.

I often wonder if there are support groups for people like me. Seriously. I’ve baked Cinnamon Maple Flax Cookies, Anytime Almond Cookies, Date Squares (recipe to come), Super-Healthy Apple Pecan Muffins, Cranberry Coconut Pecan Granola and Chocolate Cherry Cookies (also to come) all within the last 2 weeks! And yes, we have eaten it all. I love to bake and we all love to eat it, me most of all! I could blame the pregnancy but in truth, I am a sucker for baked goods. My favorite thing to eat is fresh-baked bread or muffins. Although I love to cook and chop fresh veggies, I am truly a baker at heart.

I started baking at just 9 years old, dabbling in recipes from my mom’s recipe books and creating many awful cookies and terrible muffins. I didn’t know back then that you had to put the ingredients in any certain order or allow the oven to preheat before putting cookies in. I didn’t know there was a difference between a silverware teaspoon or tablespoon and measuring spoons. A lot of my cookies were salty, puffy and burned, but my mom ate them anyway. How could she refuse when she saw the effort that I had put in to my baking and how much I loved it?

Well, in the last 13 years I have learned a thing or two and have gotten pretty good at baking. I have my own measuring spoons and now even come up with my own healthy baking recipes so I can indulge in and treat my family to sweet treats guilt-free and healthy to boot.

Baking is hands down my favorite thing to do. There is something so relaxing about baking to me, the measuring, stirring , whisking or kneading. Anytime I am stressed all I have to do is get baking and I feel so much better.

(Autumn’s toes)

The smell of cookies, muffins or quick bread in the oven definitely helps perk me up and then of course there is the eating fresh-baked muffins or cookies! Mmmmmm… I also always like to think of my baking and cooking as a primary way that I show my love for my family (and to all of you too)! So today, like any other day, I just had to bake!

Here are two of my favorite healthy, sugar-free, wheat-free quick bread recipes! Enjoy! 🙂

Easy Zucchini Walnut Bread

Zucchini bread is always a sneaky way to eat your veggies. This loaf is also speckled with omega-3 loaded walnuts and sweetened with maple syrup and a touch of cinnamon. A perfect, moist, easy-to-make loaf that gets nutrition into the pickiest of eaters.

Makes one 9 x 5 loaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup shredded zucchini (peels on or off, your choice)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and ginger . Add the shredded zucchini and chopped walnuts to the dry ingredients and stir until covered in the dry ingredients. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, sunflower oil, almond milk, applesauce and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into a 9×5 loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. The loaf is done when you poke it with a toothpick and it comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the loaf pan and slicing.

Apple Carrot Spice Bread

This loaf is deliciously sweet and spicy with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Shredded apple and carrot make this loaf a cross between an apple cake and a carrot cake. A perfect, moist snack or breakfast bread to start your day off right.

Makes one 9×5 loaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup grated apple (one medium apple)
1/2 cup grated carrot (one medium carrot, peeled)
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Add the shredded apple and carrot to the dry ingredients and stir until covered in the dry ingredients. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the sunflower oil, maple syrup, almond milk, applesauce and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into a 9 x 5 loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. The loaf is done when you poke it with a toothpick and it comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the loaf pan and slicing.