protein zucchini bread with orange crackle

Lay out a cheese cloth or thin dish cloth and grate the <wprm-ingredient uid="13" removed="0">1 cup zucchini on it. Squeeze the cloth together to ring out any excess moisture from the zucchini over the sink. Set this aside.

In a medium bowl combbine the 2/3 cup plain greek yogurt, 2 eggs, 3 tbsp milk, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 2 tbsp avocado oil, shredded zucchini, and the zest from 1 orange.

In a large bowl whisk together the 1.5 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds, 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, ¾ tsp cardamom, and 1 teaspoon salt. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix until just combined. Some lumps are fine. Be cautious not to overmix. This is a very thick batter, so I have to press it together to hydrate all the flour.

In a small bowl add the ⅛ cup sugar for topping and the zest from the other orange. Use your fingers to rub them together until it become fragrant. 

Spread the batter evenly in the bread pan. The batter gets sticky so it helps to wet the spatula or offset spatula (even the back of a spoon works). Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top, using your hands to spread it out evenly. 
Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too quickly, just loosely tent it with foil. 
Let it cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before digging in. Otherwise it could be gummy inside!