Ever summer we seem to have an abundance of zucchini. I love seeing the flowers bloom, the bees pollinating and the zucchini grow and grow and grow until I have more than I know what to do with! We grill it, roast it, sautee it and shred it. This year my youngest kept reminding me about the delicious chocolate zucchini bread I made one time. I found a recipe and it turned out fantastic. But this was a few years ago. So, I did what any crazy baker does best and decided to whip up a recipe on the spot to see how it would turn out. As luck would have it, it turned out so fluffy, light, chocolatey and delicious! I still had shredded zucchini to use up and wanted to see what would happen if I changed the recipe slightly, adding in more zucchini. The second result was a dense, fudgy loaf reminiscent of a brownie. Both turned out so exactly as I wanted them, I thought I would share both recipes in one. You can decide if you would prefer a soft, light airy loaf, or a rich, dense moist loaf and see where the results take your taste buds!
Ingredients
Yields 2 Loaves
3C Flour
1C Unsweetened Cocoa
1C Sugar
3tsp Baking Powder
2tsp Cinnamon (optional)
1tsp Salt
4 Eggs
1C Oil
1C Milk
2C Shredded Zucchini (Not strained)
2tsp Vanilla
1C Chocolate Chips
For a fudgy, dense loaf:
Add 1C zucchini and 1C Chocolate Chips to the recipe above.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F
As always, I like to make life simple and use less dishes. This recipe can all be made in one bowl. Combine all your dry ingredients into a bowl. Stir to blend together. Add in the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla. Mix until the wet ingredients are well incorporated. Stir in your zucchini. Once combined, add in the chocolate chips. Line your loaf pans with parchment paper, or grease and flour to prevent the loaves from sticking. Equally pour the batter into your loaf pans. Both the light and the dense loaves will bake to approximately the same height. Place the pans into your preheated oven and bake for 5-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out free of any batter. With the amount of chocolate chips in this loaf, be aware that the melted chocolate can leave a mark on the toothpick which will seem like batter. Let the loaves rest and cool before cutting, or they will crumble apart. I often slice the loaves up and freeze in smaller portions. This makes it easier to keep the loaves fresh and ensure there is no waste, although with the chocolate flavour in this recipe, waste hasn’t been a problem!
Everyday Functionality 