Chocolate Zucchini Bread
I think the only thing that makes this bread instead of cake is the loaf pan shape. In pretty much every other way, it's a cake.
But since it's called bread, you can totally eat it for breakfast.
I wouldn't recommend that on a regular basis, though. 😉
I found this recipe a few weeks ago while blog-hopping. The blog I found it on didn't have a printable feature, so I just copied the recipe into a Word document and printed it out.
And that means I have no way of finding the blog where the recipe originated, unfortunately. All I can remember is that it was a small-ish blogspot blog. So, my sincere apologies to the mystery blogger who posted this!
Edit: Here's the original, thanks to a reader!
As with most quick breads, you start by combining the dry ingredients.
Scratch that.
Turn your oven on first, to 350 ° F. You want it to be hot when you're ready to put your loaves in the oven.
Ok, back to the dry ingredients. I always like to run cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder through a sieve first, since those three ingredients tend to be lumpy.
Lumps are bad.
You sometimes have to use a spoon to get the last bits of cocoa powder through.
Next, you'll need to combine the wet ingredients, plus the sugar.
And whisk them all together. You can use a fork if you don't have a whisk.
But if you don't have a whisk, well, you should buy one. I use mine pretty much every single day.
Now you can mix the zucchini in with the rest of the wet ingredients. I grate mine with the small shredder in my food processor, and I use a packed two cups' worth of zucchini.
Whisk in the zucchini until it's evenly distributed.
Then gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Now it's ready to pour into your greased loaf pans.
I've only ever made this in small loaf pans because that's what the unknown blogger did. But the recipe does say that you can use a large loaf pan as well. I'm thinking this would probably be a 5x9 pan, not a 4x8...it would probably be too much batter for a 4x8.
My pans are about 3" x 5 ¾". I think that's a pretty standard size for a mini loaf pan.
Bake the small loaf pans for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
The recipe says to bake the larger loaf for an hour, but I can't vouch for that since I've never tried it. 9x5-inch quick bread loaves do usually take about that long, but make sure to do the toothpick test before taking your loaf out of the oven.
And if you try the large size, come back and leave a comment telling us about the baking time so I can edit this post.
Let the loaves cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before you try to take them out. The bit of steaming that happens during the 5 minute wait makes the loaves more prone to coming out in one piece.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Printable Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups zucchini, finely shredded
2 ⅔ cup flour (the original called for whole wheat, but I used white)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 ° F.
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Stir in the shredded zucchini.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and baking powder.
Stir zucchini mixture into the dry ingredients; mix just until combined.
Divide between four small greased loaf pans or one large greased loaf pan. Bake small loaves for 25 minutes and bake large loaf for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool loaves in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes; remove from pans to cool completely.
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Today's 365 post: a little mushroom forest
Chocolate anything looks good including this. With my next batch of zucchini, this is a to do.
This is very similar to the recipe I use out of my Taste of Home cookbook (though I use about half the sugar they call for and add chocolate chips :)). I've made 3 batches so far this summer because our zucchini plant is going bonkers! You can make it a bit more heathy by subbing applesauce for half the oil. I bet the kids made that bread disappear!
Looks good. I make a similar recipe:
http://ctonabudget.blogspot.com/2012/05/frozen-asset-shredded-zucchini.html
Freezes well, and is always well received. It's one way for me to get some fiber into "Mr Picky." We called this "chocolate bread" for years just because he wouldn't go near vegetables.
If you still have the original instructions, you might be able to google key phrases and find it that way.
Agreed-- was just about to suggest the same thing.
That looks very similar to the recipe I use. For a full loaf it bakes 50-60 minutes. Mine also calls for nuts and chocolate chips added in--that doesn't make it any healthier but ohhh, yum! 🙂
My grandmother used to make this all the time. The only difference is that she added chocolate chips. 🙂 Now that makes it cake!
Here's your original recipe for linking purposes 🙂
http://simplymadehome.blogspot.com/2012/07/chocolate-zucchini-bread.html
Mmmmm, that looks good! And a delicious way to add another veggie to the day!
Clumping of your dry baking goods must be a humidity problem. I have never had any of those ingredients get lumpy on me here in Nevada.
That "bread" sure looks good! I've never used zucchini before, but this might just be the place to start.
"But since it's called bread, you can totally eat it for breakfast."
This is totally my philosophy too! I love it. Glad to see that you are on the same page.
Yummy! I really need to grow some zucchini next year!
Out of interest, Kristen, how did you shred your zucchini?
Do you have a method or a machine for it?
Oh wait, I just noticed you did say you use the small shredder in your food processor! (no idea how I didn't see that first time around!)
Is that one of the flat plates with holes in, like a grater attachment?
(my food processor was bought second-hand so not sure if I have any of those!)
Yep, it sure is!
I am the mystery blogger! I am glad you liked the bread. (I think that it has a little less sugar than cake! )
Thank you for sharing the recipe!
It is so odd that you Americans use zucchini in a sweet bread!... 🙂
I was thinking the same thing! We put veggies in our dessert and sugar in our main dishes! Lol! And if you are a Southerner like me, LOTS of sugar in our tea! But YUMMY it all is! 🙂
I'm Italian 🙂
Great recipe! I'll have to try this sometime 🙂
It looks delicious! and I just noticed that a couple of zuchini are ready to pick what timing.
I have never made this in a large loaf pan but my Mom used to make them in coffee cans or bean cans and freeze them that way! It worked great!
ps - I think pie for breakfast falls into the same category as long as it has fresh fruit in it!!
My mother use to make a chocolate zucchini cake similar to this in a 9 by 12 pan. It was so moist! and yummy. This posts inspires me to go through her recipe box and find it.
I baked this in a large loaf pan because it's all I had. Ended up taking an hour and 25 minutes before it was cooked all the way through.
Oooh, this looks good. And it is practically health food, what with all that greenery hidden inside 😉
I was very disappointed with this recipe. It was very dry and I did not overcook it.
I'm so sorry to hear that-mine has always been quite moist. I wonder if my oven runs cooler than yours.
What size loaf pans did you use?
I tried this recipe today. I had to bake the small loaves 45 min. Just thought I'd mention it. (I think my oven is working correctly and there was plenty of room for air circulation)