Zucchini Bread Pancakes


(forgive the slightly fuzz like picture. Lazily used the camera phone this AM~ forgoing the usual Nikon route).

This year we planted a garden. Well...every year we plant a garden. This year its actually producing things~ lots of things. Previous to this year we gardened in our yard; which is heavily shaded, rocky, and a bit sloped. Obviously not the most ideal growing environment for most edible goodies.

This year, we did what we should have done 6 years ago when we bought this house. We joined a local community garden group. Success.

Yesterday we reaped the first of the harvest with zucchini and lettuce abounding.

Without a doubt, zucchini bread will be made. For us, for the neighbors, for the CAKE&WHISKEY interns, for the mailman and for friends. Want some zucchini bread? Send me an email~ I'll take care of it.

And in my attempt to always find some healthy alternative to explore (for myself... I've given up on the rest of the boys of the house seeing the benefit of less gluten or sugar.) I whipped up this little recipe below with a serious hankering for some Sunday morning pancakes.
It has no sugar, no flour, only 1T of olive oil for the entire recipe...pretty much its just about as guilt free as you can get with something like pancakes. And the kicker? They taste pretty darn rad.

The recipe is adapted and switcheroo'd from a zucchini muffin recipe~ so after making a couple of pancakes (super filling), I filled muffin cups with the rest of the batter and baked the rest into muffins for the week ahead.

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

1/2 cup oat flour (finely ground oats in the food processor)
1/4 cup coconut flour (finely ground unsweetened coconut in the food processor)
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

4 eggs
1/4 cup Stevia in the Raw (or 1/3 cup honey)
1t. vanilla
1 T olive oil
1/2 t. apple cider vinegar
1 banana (pureed)
1 cup zucchini, finely chopped

Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients and then incorporate them into the egg/zucchini mixture. Mix thoroughly and set aside for 10 minutes.
Heat a non-stick skillet to medium. Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the center of the pan (you're making pancakes...this is all pretty self explanatory at this point.) The key to these, is you need to let them cook a bit longer than your typical buttermilk pancake. I'd give it a good 3-5 minutes on one side before flipping. Make sure they aren't gooey on the inside still when you plate them.

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Summer Garden Kale and Zucchini Pizza



If you know me very well, you know my world revolves around the chance to eat pizza. And I'm really not exaggerating all that much. I just love it. Comfort food to the max.
Some of my earliest childhood memories are Friday nights with my mom, sitting on the floor watching TGIF shows with a Donatos pizza and cans of Pepsi. Good memories.




I'm not a picky pizza eater either. Requirements?
Crust. All kinds are acceptable. Deep dish when in Chicago, thin crust when in NYC. Between those times, everything is fair game.

Sauce. Again, this is not an issue of light or heavy. It just needs some.

Cheese. Yes please. As much and as many varieties as possible.

Toppings. All or few. You can't go wrong. Anchovies...don't deny them till you've tried them.



Now into my mid-thirties. Yes... as of next week MID thirties (whaaa???) pizza is less of a staple and more of a reward. That's incredibly sad on so many levels.

I've tried the cauliflower crust pizza...heck, I even blogged about it. But nothing beats the real deal. And to me, the real deal is brought to me by a college guy driving a little civic sort of car carrying an insulated square bag that literally holds piping hot slices of heaven.





But I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my love of homemade pizza. It took me years to develop a love for it~ mostly due to the fact that 99% of all pizza crust recipes are pure crap. Tasteless, chewy (not that good kind of chewy either)...almost inedible. Almost. (No pizza is ever completely inedible.)

A few years ago I ran across a cheap cookbook called The Figs Table. It has some decent recipes. The pizza dough recipe? Exceptional. I thank God for that recipe in my prayers at night.

I blogged about it here~ with the recipe~ so no need to repeat.


I've been experimenting more with toppings. Changing it up a bit. Less cheese, more healthy stuff...seeing how far I can push the boundaries of healthy pizza until it just becomes pointless.
So far, so good.

The recipe makes 4 balls of dough. Which freeze BRILLIANTLY, by the way. Follow the steps on the other post to ensure the great crust results ~ hot oven, hot pizza stone, etc....


I made the boys their typical cheese and meat sort of pizza favorite. And then I scoured around the blooming garden and the fridge to assemble my own. My own this time around? Kale, thinly sliced zucchini, the first hot pepper from the garden, buffalo mozzarella, a bit of feta and sea salt.

I'll never deny myself the 2am, grease-dripping-down-the-elbows, big-as-my-head slice of NY style pizza. I just won't. I can't. But between those times, I'll reward myself with something a little easier on the stomach...and the looming saddle bags.


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