Recipes deconstructed (and reconstructed)

Usually, when people ask me for a recipe for something I made, I give them a link for the recipe I used as a guideline. But most recipes I don't follow completely; I make my own substitutions to make them healthier or to use ingredients I already have in my kitchen. By the time I'm done with the recipe, it really is another recipe altogether. For example, yesterday I wanted to make some zucchini bread. So, I searched on allrecipes.com, ranked them by rating (my highly recommended method of finding a recipe), and opened the top recipe with the highest rating. It looked like a great basic recipe to use as a base for my own version of zucchini bread. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Whenever I am changing a recipe for baked goods, I try to keep the ratio of liquids to solids the same in my own version.  I just swap out different sweeteners, flours, and oils.  So, here is my healthified* recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup melted coconut oil  (if your house is as warm as mine, it's already melted in your kitchen)
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• zest of one lemon
• zest of one small orange
• juice of one small orange
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup grated carrots

I mix all the dry ingredients and wet separately, then combine all together.  Bake at 325 - time depends on what baking containers you use.  I filled a bundt cake pan (because my kids think it's yummier if I call it cake) and a 6 muffin tin.  The muffins took about 20 minutes, but the cake was more like 45 minutes.

The result was DELICIOUS, but when I make it again I will try 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce instead of the full cup of oil.

*  As a disclaimer, this recipe is healthier in the sense that it uses more whole food ingredients and less processed ones.  By no means it is low in calories or fat :)