Brown Sugar Cinnamon Zucchini Cake
Need another recipe to use up that zucchini? Look no further: this brown sugar cinnamon zucchini cake is the one. Full of sweetness and flavor, this moist cake has a luscious cream cheese icing that pairs perfectly together so each bite is a delightful treat.
Well school is officially back in session. My boys went yesterday for their first day. Finn, my youngest, starts kindergarten this year and we went in yesterday to his classroom for an hour to get him familiar with his room and teacher. So today is his first official day at kindergarten. Hard to believe my baby is in school! We were baking together the other day, making this cake and I thought it would be a great after-school snack kinda cake. It didn’t last the weekend though. I do, however, have some more zucchini so perhaps I’ll make it again for that after-school snack idea.
I used Golden Barrel dark brown sugar for this cake, so it’s a bit darker than typical. But because I used dark brown sugar, it has more of that sweet brown sugar taste to it plus cinnamon, which is a classic combination. Add the zucchini to it, and you’ve got yourself a sweet, moist, dare-I-say healthy(?) treat that everyone is sure to love. Maybe healthy is a stretch, but hey, whenever you can sneak in a veggie here or there, I consider that a win. 😉
The cream cheese icing can and should be made to taste. Start with 2 cups of powdered sugar and go from there. If you like your icing sweet, add some more sugar to it. I used 3 cups in mine but wished I had started smaller. Before I realized it, I had dumped in all the sugar and couldn’t go back. Oh well. My guys didn’t mind. 🙂 But I’ll know for next time.
Some of the perks of helping Mom bake is you get first dibs on testing it out. Good thing I have lots of willing taste-testers here at my house. This is Finn, my big kindergartener.
So give this cake a try! It’s the perfect after-school snack, dessert, or even serve it as a sweet breakfast treat. It’s a great way to balance a little veggie with your sweet tooth!
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup Golden Barrel coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3/4 cup Golden Barrel Raw Sugar
- 3/4 cup Golden Barrel Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
- 2-3 cups Golden Barrel 10X sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13" pan with nonstick cooking spray, or use Golden Barrel coconut oil to coat pan.
- In a bowl attached to a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat eggs, coconut oil, applesauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together for several minutes until well mixed. With mixer on low speed, add in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and mix until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in zucchini and stir until mixed in. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cake cool completely.
- In a bowl attached to a stand mixer, cream together cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat for several minutes until light and fluffy. Spread icing evenly on cooled cake. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar, if desired. Store cake in refrigerator.
Recipe adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff.
Related Posts:
Sounds delicious & healthy! Any substitutions for apple sauce? Thank you
Typically applesauce is used in place of fat in recipes so you could probably use some more coconut oil. Hope that helps!