Gluten Free Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Necessity is the mother of invention....or is it boredom? I think it may be a bit of both.

I fell down the stairs at church and severely sprained my ankle...and I hate crutches. So....I got my husband to bring up the rolling desk chair I've had since college and turned it into my personal scooter/wheelchair. It's handy for when you want to do the dishes, make lunch,..... and to make bread because you recently picked 8.5 lbs of blueberries and your zucchini crop is starting to come in. (It also makes your dog look at you funny as he's wondering WHAT on earth you're doing.)

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, and like all gluten free foodies, made some substitutions. Actually, it was the ONLY recipe I could find in their database that uses both blueberries and zucchini, so I thought I would give it a try.  I cut the recipe in half because I didn't want to waste anything in case it was a huge flop. It also worked out handy because I really only had enough 1-2-3 Gluten-Free All Purpose Fortified Gluten-Free Flour Mix and Bob's Red Mill's Gluten Free All Purpose flour for the exact 1 1/2 cups of flour the halved recipe needed. Some of the other substitutions I made were using 2 whole eggs other than the 1 1/2 the recipe called for, I replaced the oil with a 1/2 applesauce 1/2 oil combo as many people suggested, and I used half white sugar and half brown sugar....although that was mostly because I ran out of white sugar. :) I also used less sugar because of the natural sugars in the applesauce. (In the interest of eating less sugar, I'm thinking of switching to Stevia. Has anyone else tried it and what do you think of it?)

Also, many recipes suggest that you coat your blueberries in flour so that they don't sink to the bottom. I was out of flour. Now what to do? Flaxseed. I have my own spice grinder that I use for milling my own flaxseed, so I tossed the blueberries in that and it seemed to work. And the extra fiber from the flaxseed is always a good thing.

And this is how the mini loaves turned out....
Gluten free blueberry zucchini bread

Quite a few people suggested coating the top with a streusel mixture of flour, sugar and cinnamon, but i was now out of sugar and flour. So that will have to be next time. 

As far as taste, I loved them. My husband and I both had a bite after they came out of the oven and before letting them set the 20 minutes the recipe suggested. At that time, my husband didn't like them as much as I did. That first one didn't come out of the pan very well, so my husband decided to let the others set the 20 minutes like the recipe called for. Then he went on a bike ride. Then when he came back and another bite he said he liked it much more, that it tasted sweeter somehow. As far as I'm concerned, I could sit down and eat all three in one setting with a fork. Although, I do wonder if they would make good French toast....hmmmm. 

I think my friend Mary, who is trying to start a gluten free bakery named Viola Fe's Gluten Free Bake Shoppe, should try to make these. She's much more crafty than I am. 

With love and blueberries, 
Margaret Clegg

Useful Gluten Free Links
Another great use for blueberries 
Another gluten free creator of delectable food

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