Dairy-Free Zucchini Bread

I've been experimenting with coconut oil in my baking lately as a substitute for butter and shortening. It's naturally dairy-free and avoids the trans-fats in margarine. And--I was happy to discover--doesn't seem to make everything taste like coconut.

On a side note, we always have unrefined coconut oil in the house because I regularly use it to moisturize my daughter's super curly hair. I'm not sure what seems odder to me: that I use a food item on her hair, or that I cook with a hair product.

This is a basic zucchini bread using coconut oil, with a little whole wheat pastry flour slipped in for that whole grain goodness. Best enjoyed on the deck in the morning sun with a cup of good coffee.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Pumpkin + coconut = muffin yum

I've pulling random items out of our garage freezer all week in preparation for The Great Defrosting this weekend. Today's find: pumpkin purée from autumn past. Since the second-best* use of pumpkin is bread, it was muffin time!

A food photographer I am not

I tried out a Mark Bittman recipe that promised a whole wheat muffin that wasn't as heavy and dense as a rock. Could it be true? The recipe was a master recipe of sorts that invited getting creative with the ingredients, so I decided to pair the pumpkin with the sweetness of coconut.

The combination of cloudy morning, hot coffee and warm muffins was a total mood-booster. The recipe lived up to its claim of a fluffy whole wheat muffin and the hint of coconut was just right.  I think coconut may replace nuts as my favorite muffin mix-in for a spell.

To make the muffins dairy-free, I used an all-vegetable margarine and mixed unsweetened soy milk with ½ tablespoon lemon juice as a buttermilk substitute.

Recipe below; printable version here.

* First best use is pumpkin pie, of course.