Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This loaf is soo delicious. And don’t be thrown off by the fact that it has a vegetable in it! I promise it will taste like chocolate and not zucchini! The zucchini just makes the bread incredibly moist – and maybe it will make you feel a little less guilty about having that second piece. This recipe makes enough batter for two whole loaves, so you can make one for yourself and one to share with a friend!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda

6 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

3 cups finely grated zucchini (approx. 1 and ½ medium zucchinis)

3/4 cups mini chocolate chips – If you only have regular chocolate chips or a chocolate bar, just chop them up with a knife until they are roughly the size of mini chocolate chips

Topping:

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. white sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or grease 2 loaf pans and set aside. I actually used one regular size loaf pan and 4 mini loaf pans – the batter divides perfectly for either option.

Mix the topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips until they are evenly coated with the flour mixture. This will prevent them from sinking in the batter and keep them evenly distributed in your finished loaf. Set aside.

With a mixer beat the oil, white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until combined and slightly fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined. Gently stir in the grated zucchini.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not over-mix the batter or you will get a tough, rubbery loaf. Divide the batter between the loaf pans and sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over each. Place the pans on a cookie sheet for easy moving.

Bake the loaves for 50-60 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through the baking time. The loaves are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean, with no goopy batter on it. Let the loaves cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes and then remove from the pans to continue cooling.

I made this loaf for the U of A Campus Food Bank bake sale this past week. To make it bake-sale presentable, I packaged the individual slices and mini loaves in small plastic bags and tied them with curled green ribbon.. I thought they turned out really cute! The bake sale was a great success, so thanks to all who came out and supported the CFB with their generous donations!

*Recipe from Tasty Kitchen