Zucchini Bread.....that won't go straight to your bum.

I was at Starbucks today getting my Pumpkin Spice Latte fix (gosh, I love fall) when I got the craziest craving for zucchini bread. It wasn't that crazy because it was staring me in the face from the glass display case that I was trapped looking longingly into for 5 minutes while I was stuck behind the slowest woman with the longest order ever. Grrr.

Anyways, it looked beyond delicious and I would have ordered it had I not noticed the little tag that let me know that it contained a mere 490 calories and 28 grams of fat! Are you effing kidding me!

Now, I am not usually one to count calories.... especially post wedding, but since I was about to consume 300 calories of festive pumpkin-y goodness I really felt that it would be best to not take in 1/2 of my daily calories in one little coffee stop.

I'm not going to lie.... I still really wanted some zucchini bread. I am such an inner fat kid. But, in an effort to not gain a post wedding 78 pounds, I came home and researched some healthy alternative recipes.... and I came across this one from the mayo clinic.

I did make a few tweaks, but it is pretty delicious and has only 170 calories, low fat, and low sugar.

Ingredients:

6 egg whites
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 1/2 cups crushed, unsweetened pineapple
1/2 cup raisins

king arthur flour is the absolute best.

Method:Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. I use coconut oil spray because it is delicious.

In a large bowl, add the egg whites, canola oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed until thick and foamy.

In a small bowl, stir together the flours. Set 1/2 cup aside. Add the baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon to the small bowl of flour.

Add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture and using the electric mixer on medium speed, beat until well blended. Add the zucchini, walnuts, pineapple and raisins and stir until combined. Adjust consistency of the batter with the remaining 1/2 cup flour, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. The batter should be thick and not runny.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into each prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the loaves out of the pans onto the rack and let cool completely.