This recipe was born out of a need to use those pesky leftover bananas that we always seem to find on our counter. In deciding what to do with them, we found inspiration from the farmer's market near our new digs. That's right—the double thyme twins are now roomies in the greatest city in the world—New York! To get a taste of what we are up to, don't forget to follow us on snapchat at doublethymeblog—but now back to this snack cake.
At the farmers' market, we saw these huge, beautiful zucchinis, and we knew that they would work beautifully with our brown bananas. Whenever we make quick bread, we try and make it as healthy as possible while still being delicious. This way, we can eat it any time of day with absolutely no guilt. To achieve this, we swapped most of the butter for applesauce, and all of the refined sugar for agave. Looking for a vegan recipe? Simply use canola or coconut oil in place of the butter and you are good to go.
No flavor whatsoever was sacrificed in the name of nutrition, we promise. Scented with fragrant vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves, your neighbors will be knocking at your door and asking you to share as soon as this baby starts cooking in the oven, it smells that good. We chose to bake ours in a 9 by 13 inch pan to cut down on the cooking time (we were really hungry!), but this recipe would also make two loaves.
Zucchini-Banana Snack Cake
Makes about 12-15 generous squares
Ingredients
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 2 large bananas, mashed
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup agave syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch pan with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine zucchini, mashed bananas, applesauce, butter, agave, and vanilla. Add the flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt, and stir to combine.
Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 25-35 minutes, until the cake is springy to the touch and a fork or toothpick comes out clean.
