Chocolate Zucchini Bread

One of the great things about summer is the bounty of fresh veggies.  One of the worst things about summer is also the bounty of fresh veggies.  I love fresh veggies and I love to cook, but sometimes I get stuck in a rut. Sometimes I am just too tired to think of something new. The problem is the veggies are still sitting there demanding to be used before they spoil.

Zucchini is one of those veggies that everyone seems to have in great abundance this time of year, and even though I am so sick of it now I know I would kill to find a decent one at the grocery store in the winter. My daughter has been pretty good at eating the zucchini that has come across her plate, but she's getting sick of it too. Thank goodness for Pinterest. I surf there when I am board.  The other day there was a fat free, gluten free chocolate zucchini bread.  It looked good, but the fat free, gluten free part didn't float my boat.  I do like calorie reduced, but I need some fat.  In fact I thought a good chocolate zucchini bread would make a great vehicle to get some more coconut oil into our diet.

Once I am inspired to make something new I search the Internet to see what others have done.  Once I see what I like, I either combine a few recipes or just modify one.  I know you're asking why don't I just follow one recipe? I don't know, I just want it my way.  The one I used had some whole wheat flour, which if you like keep it, but as much as they say we are supposed to eat it, I don't like it so, I went for regular flour. Maybe next time I'll try and use half white whole wheat flour. My daughter doesn't like nuts so those got nixed (although I would have preferred to keep them). I wanted more cocoa and some brown sugar, and of course coconut oil. The other thing was I wanted it packed full of zucchini, so I used a lot. In fact when I folded it in it looked like a little batter with a lot of shredded zucchini, and I wasn't sure it was going to work. No worries, it came out great.

I made the bread and when my daughter got home from school she was enchanted by the scent of baked chocolate in the air.  I could have neglected to tell her about the zucchini part, but I'm not that kind of mom, so I immediately told her what it was. Ugh, really? was the response. Anyway she gave it a try and had seconds.  She also had a piece after dinner for desert.  Good stuff.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
adapted from Eating Well's Chocolate Zucchini Bread

2 loaves , 8 servings each

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups zucchini – grated and packed

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray.

Combine coconut oil and unsweetened chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 15 seconds, stir, then repeat until the chocolate is melted.

In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, sugar, applesauce, vanilla and melted chocolate and coconut oil mixture. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in zucchini. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops.

Bake the loaves 40-45 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto rack and cool completely.

Nutritional Analysis from Mastercook

Per Serving: 190 Calories; 6g Fat (26.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 139mg Sodium.