Chocolate Cucumber Banana QuickBread
Eggless Chocolate Cucumber Banana QuickBread is a great alternative to zucchini. Replace zucchini with cucumber in equal quantity and voila a great dish is ready. It is a no fail recipe and substitution.
Choose from other zucchini recipes like zucchini bread, zucchini tart or Zucchini chocolate quickbread.
Zucchini is a very commonly used ingredient in international recipes. But in India, it is not a local or commonly available produce. So it is sold at exorbitant prices usually in gourmet stores and that too few days old and gives you the feeling of not using fresh food.
We get a close cousin of Zucchini in form of Cucumber, locally. The purists would probably disagree but so far my understanding allows me to substitute it in place of Zucchini.
I have successfully used it in savoury bake – Ratatouille. This time I took another step and used cucumber in a zucchini Quickbread. And I must say that I didn’t regret it.
I made quite a few changes – replaced 1/2 cup flour with cocoa powder, added cherries, skipped applesauce, etc. Detailed recipe below.
One could feel only very slight taste of cucumber and very palatable too. I am glad to have discovered another healthy breakfast option.
I adapted the recipe to suit my taste.
A perfect healthy and yummy breakfast option. Egg-free Cucumber Chocolate Quickbread.
Ingredients
- 1/3+1/4 Cup - Banana Puree (about 2 medium sized Bananas)
- 1/4 Cup - Olive Oil
- 1/2 Cup - Sugar
- 1 tsp - Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup - Cucumber, grated
- 1 Cup - All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup - Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp - Cinnamon Powder
- 1/4 tsp - Allspice Powder
- 3/4 tsp - Baking Soda
- 3/4 tsp - Salt
- 1/2 Cup - Almonds, chopped
- 1/4 Cup - Cherries, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C. Lightly grease an 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 bread pan.
- In a mixing bowl, mash the banana well, until no large chunks are left.
- Add the olive oil, sugar, and vanilla and use a strong fork to mix well. Mix in the grated cucumber.
- Sift in 1 cup of the flour, the cinnamon, allspice, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add the almonds, cherries and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, and mix just until no visible flour or cocoa powder is left.
- Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick or knife. If it needs more time, reduce temperature to 170 C and bake for additional 10 to 15 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Slice and serve!
Notes:
loosely adapted from Isa
I used Tupperware box grater to grate cucumber in short motion as described by Isa in original recipe.
I skipped Applesauce and replaced it with same amount of Banana Puree.
The height of the bread depends on your pan size.
Due to reaction of soda, do the steps quickly or the bread won't rise well.
Always coat nuts with flour or cocoa powder to avoid sinking to the bottom.
