Gluten Free Zucchini Bread
When I met The Date Lady, Colleen Sundlie, at the Specialty Food Association e-
commerce forum last month, my mind immediately focused on the versatility of her product as a sugar alternative in our recipes.
One week into our Kickstarter campaign and we’ve highlighted a number of small businesses we love along the way.
Colleen’s date story begins 10 years ago in a market, with her baby boy, in the United Arab Emirates. “The ladies in the market gathered around her as they often did, pinching little Henry’s cheeks, smiling with their eyes peeking out from their abayas, and told her excitedly about the jar of pure date syrup she was holding in her hands.” When Colleen and her husband returned to the United States some years later they realized that in order to have a continuous supply of this delicious syrup they would need to start making their own. And so “The Date Lady” was born.
When I met Colleen I had no idea what a powerhouse of potassium her product is and, unlike other sweeteners, it maintains essential nutrients when cooked. I found the gluten free zucchini bread on her website and went about adapting it for our slow cooker.
The gluten free aisle has come a long way in the 4 years since we launched this blog.
I discovered gluten free buckwheat flour while wandering the store at Mrs Green’s Organics last weekend during our inaugural demonstration of our Slow Cooker Spice Blends.
In the next aisle I found The Date Lady’s Pure Date Syrup and so this week’s recipe was all but baked.
The bread almost has a savory edge to it and adding walnuts breaks up the texture nicely. This is a breakfast bread for me, served with zero fat greek yoghurt and stewed rhubarb.
- 2 cups buckwheat flour, gluten free
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup light olive oil / butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup date syrup or 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups / 1/2 lb zucchini, grated
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- spray an 8x4 loaf pan with non stick oil
- in a large bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder
- in a medium bowl mix the olive oil/butter with the date syrup/sugar
- break the eggs one at a time into the oil and syrup mixture and stir well to combine
- stir the zucchini into the oil, syrup and egg mixture
- stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until all the flour is incorporated
- stir in the walnuts and transfer mixture to the loaf pan
- place the loaf pan onto a piece of aluminum foil in the slow cooker, replace the lid and cook on HIGH for 2 hours
- to stew some rhubarb you will need 1lb rhubarb and a tbsp water. Heat together in a saucepan for 5 minutes. store in a jar in a refrigerator
“More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.”
