Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Today my boys and I met up with some family at a nearby park. We are surprising our Nana and Poppa with a picture of their great-grandchildren for their 80th birthday.

It was a wild afternoon.

My Simon cried virtually the whole time, and the boys wouldn't sit still. I actually have a picture of Jonah biting Simon's little head.

All was made well when my cousin Tom handed me a huge grocery bag with about 10 of the largest Zucchini's I've ever seen in my life. Thanks Aunt Laurel! Here's a picture of my little Simon beside one of the Zucchini's. It was literally as big as he is!

My weekends mission then became clear. Use up the Zucchini.

This is by far the best Zucchini bread I've ever had, and such a nice change from Banana bread. It's delicious with a cup of coffee in the morning, or a nice with a glass of milk before bed. It's one of my favorite breads to make, because Jonah devours it and has no idea there are nearly 3 cups of vegetable in it. Sneaky mommy!

Chocolate Zucchini bread

I like breads and cakes that are super moist, but if you prefer a drier bread simply omit the sour cream from this recipe. Also, if you like your bread with just a hint of chocolate, then dial back the chocolate chips to 1/4 cup. I personally love this recipe AS IS.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of sour cream
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 squares unsweetened or sweetened chocolate (Whatever you have in your pantry)
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup Splenda (or white sugar)
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 or 3 cups of grated zucchini (Depending on how thick you like the bread)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons of vanilla (I LOVE Vanilla....if you're not a fan like me, use 1 tbsp)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
3/4 cup of chocolate chips (I used PC brand)
A few drops of milk for melting the chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease pans (I use olive oil spray).
Microwave chocolate (with a few drops of milk) until melted. Stand in front of the microwave while doing this so you don't burn it. It only takes seconds to melt.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, apple sauce, sour cream, sugar, splenda, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate and cocoa; beat well. (If using a hand held blender, be careful as it will splatter everywhere!)
Stir in the flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf or muffin pans.

Now the tricky part is timing it perfectly. I used this recipe to make some muffins and they were ready after 35 minutes. The larger loaf took an hour, and the loaf that was a little smaller took 45 minutes. My suggestion would be to leave them undisturbed for 35-40 minutes and then open the oven and check the centers with a toothpick. They are ready when the top springs back to touch, or when a tooth pick comes out of the center of the loaf clean.