Carrot and courgette loaf

I love to cook and if I can make it healthy… all the better but my real passion has to be baking!! Cupcakes, brownies, lemon drizzle… all things sweet! I bake the odd birthday cake for family too.

Keeping that in mind this recipe is a little bit of both. It’s sweet but it contains veggies so is obviously healthy too. It’s a win win in my book…!!

Is it a cake, is it a bread… I’m not so sure but once you make this, its one you’re going to want to make again and again! It’s super easy to prepare and takes 1 hour to bake. One bowl… all in one method… easy peasy!! A delicious healthy loaf full of veggies, raisins and walnuts. It can be enjoyed with or without the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. The beauty of not frosting this cake is that it freezes very well, simply wrap in clingfilm and pop into a ziplock freezer bag, where it can be stored for up to 3 months. This would never last that long in my house. In fact it never even makes it to the freezer… but the option is there!

If not frosted, store in a sealed container in a cool dry place for up to 1 week

If frosted, store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days

That’s all the storage conditions out of the way… PHEW!!!!

So here are the ingredient you’ll need to make this loaf:

140 g plain flour (I used gluten free flour from Aldi)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbsp stevia
30 g chopped walnuts
50 g butter (melted)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla
70 g courgettes (grated)
70 g carrot (grated)
42g raisins

Here’s how to make it:

Preheat oven to 160 deg c
line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper
Put flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, raisins, stevia and walnuts (leave a few walnuts for the topping) in a large bowl and stir

I just happened to have these raisin snack packs in the cupboard so I used two of them (28g)

Melt butter in a small sauce pan (or in the microwave)
Mix butter in with dry ingredients
Add eggs, vanilla, grated courgette and grated carrot and mix

Spoon mixture into lined loaf tin

Bake for 1 hour or until golden and a skewer comes out clean
Remove from the oven, leave in the tin for 10 minutes before removing from the tin
Move to a wire rack to cool
In the mean time, prepare cinnamon cream cheese frosting (if desired)