Running Girl Health and Fitness: Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Cake

This is a great, easy "cake" that can easily be a breakfast, snack, or dessert option. It's also a good way to sneak in zucchini (especially if you have zucchini growing in your garden like crazy still) and also obtain a bit of that fall-is-coming spicy cinnamon aroma wafting through your house.

To be honest, I'm pretty excited about autumn and was planning on baking something with pumpkin and cinnamon, but since I didn't have any pumpkin in the house, I figured using up extra zucchini would be more productive and useful anyways. This is also a really fast recipe; stir it up and bake 30-35 minutes and done! (A little extra time maybe for the optional glaze, but really, it's a snap).

I ate two pieces and then the hubby and I walked the dogs along Asilomar Beach--today there was a triathlon taking place on the road near our walk, so I felt extra lazy stuffed full of breakfast cake walking while cyclists huffed and sweated as they streaked past us. But hey, what else are Sundays for?? (Pregnancy has its perks, like when I eat two pieces of healthy-ish cake for breakfast and don't really care). Or hey if you're not pregnant, and just want a great morning--I say dig in!

Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Cake
Yields 9x13" cake
12-16 pieces

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup nondairy yogurt OR 6 TBSP ground chia + 9 TBSP water OR 3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
2 cups All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour or oat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups shredded raw zucchini

Directions:

1. If using coconut oil, warm the applesauce and melt the coconut oil before stirring together. Add in eggs or egg substitute, vanilla and sugars and whisk well. (If using chia seeds and water, as always, let it sit and gel at least a few minutes). If using olive, sunflower or avocado oil, no need to heat the oil or applesauce.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients together. I used 2 cups Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour and 1/2 cup brown rice flour, but any flour blend might well except for coconut flour; that will make the recipe super dry.
3. Stir in zucchini last, and pour into a greased or lined 9x13" pan.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350F degrees. (Check after 30 minutes; my oven baked it perfectly at 33-34 minutes.) Your oven may take up to 40 minutes; a good way to tell is you'll start smelling it and when a toothpick is inserted into the cake, it comes out clean.

5. Let cool, cut and serve. Serve plain or whisk creamed honey, organic powdered sugar, and a few drops of water to glaze. Store leftovers in an airtight container. I prefer not to refrigerate baked goods as it will dry them out much faster.

P.S. want pretty reusable cake pan liners? I'm obsessed with my easy-to-wash and very presentable Ikea Drommar Cake Doilies!