A grain-free moist vanilla crumb cake recipe with a hint of cinnamon & (not so) secretly packed with one of my favorite summer veggies…

The BEST Healthier, Grain-Free Zucchini Cake Recipe

A zucchini cake might sound a little crazy BUT think of your Grandma’s favorite zucchini bread recipe, just a little sweeter & fluffier. YUP it’s good. Dare I say maybe even better than zucchini bread?!

Maybe its the buttery crumb topping.

Or the slightly sweet cake absolutely packed with healthy fats.

Or possibly the decadent gooey SCD-friendly caramel drizzle.

To be totally honest, I kind of ate it like zucchini bread too… I’m not even at all ashamed that I always find myself eating a piece for breakfast when I make this recipe! Because this crumb cake is made with a nourishing blend of almond & coconut flour, I find that it’s actually very satisfying.

I’m also making it one of my goals for the rest of this year to get better about cooking & baking with produce in-season! Choosing seasonal fruits and veggies guarantees that they’re fresh, full of nutrients, & most likely more sustainable/low-cost too. With that said, I’m totally guilty of craving all the strawberry desserts/recipes in the middle of February LOL. So I’m clearly a work in progress, but I thought that was an important side note to make on this fun ~ seasonal ~ zucchini recipe post!!

Steering clear of refined sugar sources (aka white sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar, white flour, and processed artificial sweeteners) is KEY to creating healthy sweets that leave me feeling fueled & energized. For this recipe, I use locally-sourced honey.

Honey & the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Local honey is not only my favorite specific-carbohydrate-diet-friendly sweetener, but it also has a bunch of other cool healing properties:

Allergy protection
Rich in antioxidants & phytonutrients
Aids in digestion
Anti-microbial, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-fungal

(source: https://www.livestrong.com/article/266247-benefits-of-local-raw-honey/ )

Honey is considered “legal” on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) since it is only composed of monosaccharides, which are readily absorbed in the small intestine without the help of digestive enzymes. It has been shown that these amylase enzymes that break apart larger sugars & starches in the body are inactive in people with Irritable Bowel Diseases (IBD), such as Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn’s Disease. Since I was recently diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, I still try to steer clear clear of processed sugars & “traditional” flours, breads, and grains.

To simplify things, I would say I follow a paleo-based diet now! I feel like the paleo diet is popular enough now for that to be a good point of reference for my current approach to eating.

*Keep in mind I only follow this “diet” to support my IBD treatment.*

Over the past 6 months, it’s been so much fun to get creative recreating some of my old favorite recipes to fit into this new grain-free, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, gut-health oriented lifestyle of mine! A few of my current late summer favorite SCD-friendly recipes include:

How to Make a Paleo Zucchini Crumb Cake

Step 1: Make the crumb topping: combine the almond flour, ghee, almond butter, & honey in a dish. Stir until a crumbly mixture forms & set aside.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: the almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking powder, & cinnamon.

Step 3: Add in the eggs, melted ghee, honey, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.

Step 4: Beat well with an electric mixer & add in the shredded zucchini.

Step 5: Fold the shredded zucchini into the cake batter & transfer into a lightly greased 9×9″ pan. Top with the crumb topping and bake for 40- 45 minutes at 350F.

Let the cake cool completely before drizzling with the SCD/paleo caramel sauce. Slice, serve, & enjoy!