Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

• Posted on April 15, 2012
• 8 Comments

You might remember how last fall my garden produced an unreal amount of zucchini . . . in fact, that was really the only successful plant in our garden (it was our first year planting a garden . . . we were amateurs!). I had so much zucchini that I really had to get creative with what I made so that my family would still eat it. At the end of the fall, my kitchen counter still had a stack of zucchini on it. I knew that it would go bad before we would eat all of it, so I shredded it and placed it into freezer bags in 2-cup quantities. All winter long, I would pull out bags of shredded zucchini and use it in recipes- it was so fun having fresh garden zucchini in the dead of winter!

Even if you don’t have a freezer full of shredded zucchini as I do, you can just buy some zucchini at the store.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1 cup unsweetened applesauce (can substitute 1 cup canola oil)
-3 eggs
-3 teaspoons vanilla extract
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour)
-1/2 cup baking cocoa
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-2-3 cups shredded zucchini
-1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but they taste amazing!)

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat the sugar, applesauce, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in zucchini. Fold in chocolate chips. Transfer to two 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans coated with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).