sweet smell of fall

Growing up, when your mom bakes fresh dessert I would check the oven almost every 2 minutes to check up on the sweet scent that is filling every ounce of open space. The smell of fresh zucchini bread brings me back to my childhood when nothing mattered except for the thought of jumping into a pile of freshly racked leaves. Just "don't jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker"like Linus.

So today just seemed like the perfect fall day to bring back the smell of fall with a carrot and zucchini bread. You wouldn't think carrots and zucchini could fill the room with one of the most amazing aromas, but the smell just makes me want to cozy up next to my nonexistent fireplace. I wish you could smell it right now. I just want to eat it up! This smells WAY better than the lingering smell from last night's dinner...

Skinny Carrot Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Lick the Bowl Good
Makes 1 loaf

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 baking powder
1/2 sea salt
1/4 cup minced candied ginger, optional
2 large eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup coarsely grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 235F. Grease an 8.5x4.5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk in the salt and candied ginger(opt).

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until they are foamy. Whisk the applesauce, sugar, and vanilla hard until well combined. Stir in the carrots and zucchini into the wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir/fold until everything is just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for about 1 hour or until the loaf passes the toothpick test. Cool it in the pan for about 10 minutes, then let it complete cooling on a cooling rack.

And the baking season of spices begins...

What are you going to bake this season?
::elle.