Zucchini Bread

I love this time of the year with all the fresh vegetables in season.  My dad has been gardening for a few years now and inspired me to start my own this past fall.  Unfortunately, my summer garden was a failure so luckily he supplies me with plenty of red, juicy tomatoes and delicious zucchini on a weekly basis.  I got a pressure cooker for Christmas and it gives a whole new meaning to steaming vegetables!  Our zucchini takes just minutes and the flavor is amazing.  I also like to use some of my zucchini to make bread.  I found this healthier zucchini bread recipe on Eating Well last year and made my own adaptations.  I would highly recommend.  (This recipe makes two loaves.)

Zucchini Bread

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup pecan halves
3 cups whole wheat flour (fresh ground is best, let me know if you want some)
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 T. baking powder
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
1 1/2 t. salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup applesauce
1/3 cup canola oil
3 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat two 9 x 5 load pans with cooking spray.  Spread oats and pecans on separate parts of a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 5-10 minutes.  Let cool, then chop the pecans.  Set aside about 2 T. of the toasted oats if you want to sprinkle some on top.
2.  Stir together the toasted oats, the pecans, both flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a mixing bowl.
3.  Whisk together brown sugar, honey, eggs, egg whites, applesauce, and oil in another bowl; stir in zucchini.  (I use a cheese grater to grate mine.)
4.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined.
5.  Divide the batter between the prepared loaf pans, smoothing the tops.  Sprinkle 1 T. of reserved oats on top of each loaf.  Bake until the tops feel firm when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
6.  Let loaves cool in the pans for 5 minutes; turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Let us know how yours turned out!