Sugar-Free Zucchini Bread (Gluten-Free, Low-Lectin)

Are you avoiding lectins and sugar and don’t know if you can eat zucchini bread again? Please allow me to be the bearer of good news: you can eat zucchini if you remove the peels and seeds, where the lectins are. And you can certainly use them to make delicious sugar-free zucchini bread that is also gluten-free and lectin-light.

Can you eat zucchini on a lectin-light diet?

When starting a new way of eating, like the plant paradox or just trying to avoid lectins, many beloved vegetables seem suddenly out of reach. Take cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and potatoes.

While I do think we overeat these vegetables and forget about the diversity of other gut-friendly, nutritious plant foods available, they do have benefits if eaten in season and locally grown.

After the initial lectin elimination stages, there are ways to safely reintroduce all these plant foods and assess if they are a good fit into your diet, aka if they make you feel good or bring back symptoms.

In the case of zucchini, the lectins are in the peel and seeds, which are easy to remove. Just use a vegetable peeler for the peel, and use a spoon to scoop out the soft middle where all the seeds are.

The ‘CreativeInMyKitchen’ Cake Flour Mix

After baking with gluten-free and lectin-free flours for so many years, I decided to name some of my most used blends of flour. I rarely cook with only one type of flour, as I like to have nutritional diversity and bring in different properties of different flours for the best results.

This is one easy mix that is great to use for cakes, especially if you don’t want to use any sweetener. Mix equal parts (by volume, so 1/2 cup each) of the below 4 flours in a large mixing bowl:

• cassava flour
• almond flour
• tigernut flour
• chestnut flour

This is not a very high-carb mix. Cassava and chestnut are higher in carbs, and the almond and tigernut are low-carb, balancing this mix out. The chestnut and the tigernut flours are naturally sweet, so you won’t need to add any sweetener to your cakes, especially if you also use fruits.

If you need to replace any of the above flours, you just make an equal mix of the other three or even add more of just one or two of them.

For more details about lectin-free, gluten-free flours, check our Quick Guide to Lectin-Free, Gluten-Free Flours.

The ingredients for the sugar-free zucchini bread

• ‘CreativeInMyKitchen’ cake flour mix (1/2 cup of each flour: cassava, almond, chestnut, and tigernut)
• Baking powder (to make one teaspoon of baking powder at home, mix 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda)
• Salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest, vanilla
• Roasted pecans
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Optional: sweetener of your choice (yacon Syrup, monk fruit, inulin powder; local honey can be used to drizzle on top)
• Pastured eggs
• Coconut milk
• Zucchini (peeled and deseeded)
• Optional: a small handful of chopped spruce tips or 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary (or less if you don’t like strong rosemary taste). This is not necessary, but if you have spruce tips, they add a nice, subtle pine flavor and lots of nutritional value.

How to make it

• Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
• If you need to roast the pecans, do it while you prepare the ingredients, at 300F, for no longer than 10 minutes, as they burn fast. Keep an eye on them. Once roasted, you can finely chop them.
• Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
• In a big bowl, mix the olive oil with sweetener (if using) with a whisk. Add the eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest, and whisk until creamy. Add the coconut milk, then add the shredded zucchini and combine.
• Add the dry mix to the wet mix and incorporate it with the whisk or a spatula. Don’t over-mix.
• Add the spruce tips or the rosemary, if using, and the pecans, and combine. You will get a thick batter that will be scooped into the loaf pan.
• Bake at 350F (180C) for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and no longer soft to the touch.
• Take out and let cool; top with the rest of the pecans and chopped spruce tips if using, and drizzle with some local honey or yacon syrup. Let it cool down before you slice it.

Spruce tips or rosemary

If you have access to spruce tips, they are an excellent addition to this bread. Chop them and add them to the batter and sprinkle more when serving. They add a subtle pine, earthy flavor to the bread, reminiscent of rosemary but not as strong.

If you love rosemary, you can add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary.

Both rosemary and spruce tips add not only flavor but also great nutritional value.

The gluten-free, sugar-free zucchini bread: an easy-to-make, delicious, and naturally sweet treat

This zucchini bread recipe was a hit with all the members of my family, none of which eats a lectin-free, gluten-free diet.

This cake is surprisingly sweet, even when not using any sweetener at all. The tigernut and chestnut flours add the natural sweetness, but even the almond flour and pecans are naturally sweet.

This sugar-free zucchini bread is delicious. It is full of flavor and despite having more of a dense consistency, it actually has a light bite. It feels light and refreshing, especially if eaten the second day, from the fridge.

Zucchini recipe

For another recipe with peeled and deseeded zucchini, check out my Lectin-Free Zucchini Baked Fries with Garlic Sauce.

For more delicious bread recipes, read our article Gluten-Free, Lectin-Free Bread: 15 Delicious and Easy Recipes.

*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

Print Recipe

Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Zucchini Bread (Lectin-Light)

(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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By Claudia Curici, Health Coach – Serves: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes – Cooking Time: 45 minutes

A loaf of delicious zucchini bread for a sweet treat that is gluten-free, sugar-free and lectin-light.

Ingredients

• THE DRY MIX:
• 2 cups of 'CreativeInMyKitchen' cake flour mix (1/2 cup each flour: cassava, almond, chestnut, and tigernut)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup roasted pecans, finely chopped plus more for decorating the cake
• THE WET MIX:
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Optional: 1 tablespoon honey or sweetener of your choice (yacon Syrup, monk fruit, inulin powder)
• 2 pastured eggs
• Zest of one organic lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cup grated zucchini, extra liquid squeezed
• Optional: a small handful of chopped spruce tips or 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary (or less if you don't like strong rosemary taste). This is not necessary but if you have spruce tips they add a nice, subtle pine flavor and lots of nutritional value.

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

2

If you need to roast the pecans, do it while you prepare the ingredients, at 300F, for no longer than 10 minutes, as they burn fast. Keep an eye on them. Once roasted you can finely chop them.

3

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

4

In a bigger bowl, mix the olive oil with sweetener (if using) with a whisk. Add the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and whisk until creamy. Add the coconut milk, then add the zucchini and combine.

5

Start adding the dry mix to the wet mix and incorporate it with the whisk or a spatula. Don't over mix.

6

Add the spruce tips or the rosemary if using and the pecans and combine. You will get a thick batter that will be scooped into the loaf pan.

7

Bake at 350F (180C) for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and no longer soft to touch.

8

Take out and let cool, top with the rest of the pecans, chopped spruce tips if using and drizzle with some local honey or yacon syrup. Let it cool down before you slice it.

Notes

The texture of this cake is dense and moist, but not heavy.