Lemon-Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread

Sometimes the best gifts are ones that are

inexpensive and made with love.

Anytime I visit a friend's house or I know I'll have a lot of gifts to give at one time {such as Christmas} I like to give baked goods...with a little touch of course.  Last year I gave my friends and family Yummy Mummy's cherry oat scones in a jar which turned out to be such a huge hit, so when I saw these mini lemon-poppy seed zucchini breads I just had to make them!

Now zucchini is such a fabulous ingredient in breads because it keeps the bread moist and has such a subtle flavor that doesn't overpower the sweetness we all love so much.  It's also a great way to sneak in veggies without anyone knowing!

Chris sure didn't and he scarfed this right up.

I did make my own substitutions in this recipe to keep it low in calories and fat, but still wanted to maintain the same great taste.  I cut out half the butter and used unsweetened applesauce, I used less sugar since the lemon zest already adds to the sweetness and also used fat-free plain yogurt in place of the sour cream.  There is also no oil used in this bread which I loved!

You could also substitute whole wheat pastry flour for half of the all-purpose flour, but I didn't have any on hand so I just used what I had.  There really is no reason at all why people should use tons of butter and oil in their recipes, you can still have delicious quick-breads for half the calories!

Throw in a little burlap and some twine
and your friends will enjoy this too.

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Servings: 12

Serving Size: 2 slices

Calories: 173

Fat: 5 g

Carbs: 29.2 g

Fiber: 0.9 g

Protein: 3.8 g

Old Points: 3.7 pts

Points+: 5 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Southern Living

 

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 Tbsp lemon zest

2 tsp. poppy seeds

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Beat butter and applesauce at a low speed with your stand mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

 

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.  Add to butter mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at a low speed just until blended after each addition.  Stir in shredded zucchini, lemon zest and poppy seeds.  Spoon batter into 3 greased 5 x 3-inch loaf pans (I used disposable aluminum ones) about 1 1/3 cups batter per pan.

 

Bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and remove bread from pans.  Enjoy!

 

Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

 

Hope y'all enjoy this as much as we did!