Blessing In Disguise
This raw vegan chocolate zucchini bread is my all-time-favorite dessert that I literally eat them everyday after dinner. I’m all for dessert after meals, especially dinner. One thing that troubled me the most of being a vegan is the scarcity of readily available dessert in Hong Kong.
From where I live, vegan desserts are a luxury. They are either hard to find, only available at high-end supermarkets or health food stores, or super expensive. The range of products we have is also very narrow. We don’t have Ben & Jerry’s vegan ice cream, nor vegan cookies that are everywhere in Trader’s Joe. Finding vegan treats here is like going on a hunt. Some stores that used to carry that item may not have it anymore when you go a week later. That’s also one of the main reasons why I started making so many things by myself. 1. To save money and 2. To save time.
Why I Created This Recipe?
Dessert after dinner is a long held tradition in my household. And ever since I turned vegan, I can only join the sacred dessert session if I made them by myself. This raw vegan chocolate zucchini bread, however, wasn’t created as a dessert intentionally. I made them before I was going on a trip to Iceland (you can check my other instagram account for landscape photos 😊). I was worrying that there may not be much vegan options on the road. So I made these zucchini bread as my travel snacks. I used protein powder in this recipe to ensure I meet my daily protein intake when I was traveling, but you can always omit that if you don’t have any protein powder or you doesn’t find it necessary.
Raw Vegan Dessert That Looks & Tastes Like Baked
If you look back to my old blog posts few years back, you may know that I have a period of raw vegan dessert obsession. I love every raw vegan desserts ranging from raw cake, raw brownies, raw oreos etc. I was so overly health-conscious during that time that I consider baked or non-raw desserts as “evil” or unhealthy.😳 Anyway, gone are the days. Now I am all about balance and listening to your body. As long as it’s vegan, and I want to eat, I will eat it. Moreover, perhaps I have been eating too many raw desserts during the past few years, now I don’t really fancy the texture of them. As they are mostly dense and moussy. After all, 90% of the ingredients are cashew nuts and coconut oil 😆
Don’t worry. Although this chocolate zucchini bread is raw, it has the texture and even tastes like baked zucchini bread thanks to the secret ingredient – Psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is a form of soluble fibre. Due to its high water absorption ability, people often use it as a binder in vegan recipes. Apart form binding the mixture together, one major role of psyllium husk in this recipe is to make the “dough” fluffy. You may notice that I didn’t use any water here as those shredded zucchini will release some water. And the psyllium husk will absorb those water and create a fluffy mixture.
Freeze Or Dehydrated
“But I don’t have a dehydrator? How can I make this recipe?” I’ve got your back. Since this recipe is all raw and made with all natural ingredients. You can indeed freeze the mixture and enjoy them just the way they are. That way, you don’t need a dehydrator. However, if you are really going for the fluffy outcome, you may need a dehydrator to do so. You can also “bake” them using the lowest temperature available at your oven until they are slightly dried on the outside.
Raw Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread
20
servings30
minutesIngredients
2 medium zucchinis (shredded)
2 cups quinoa flakes*
2 cups dried fruits**
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
2 tsp maca powder
Pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup psyllium husk
1/3 cup raw cacao nibs
Directions
- Add quinoa flakes to a food processor and pulse a few times until they are coarsely chopped.
- Add dried fruits of your choice, cinnamon, raw cacao powder, maca powder, sea salt, vanilla extract and process until the mixture is mixed well. You don’t want the mixture to be super fine as it’s better to retain some texture in the zucchini bread.
- Remove the mixture from the food processor and transfer them into a large mixing bowl. Add shredded zucchini, shredded coconut, psyllium husk and raw cacao nibs.
- Using your hands, mix until everything is incorporated and evenly distributed. The mixture may seem a bit dry at first, but the water from shredded zucchini will help bind everything together. If the mixture is still too dry after you mixed everything together, add little bit of water (1 Tbsp at a time) until it forms a dough.
- Measure out 1/4 cup of mixture, form into a small dome. Place it on the dehydrator tray. Continue until you have used up all the dough.
- Dehydrate at 40°C for around 5 hours, until the surface is dry and the zucchini bread is bouncy when slightly pressed. You can dehydrate it for a longer time for longer shelf-life.
Notes
- * You can also use any kinds of grains, nuts or seeds you prefer. I tried buckwheat, oats, almonds, walnuts & tigernuts and they all work great!
- ** Mix and match any dried fruits of your choice. Dates, dried figs and prunes work great.
- You can freeze them for up to 6 months and keep them in the fridge for up to 1 week.
