Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Something had to be done.  We've been picking zucchini on a daily basis now, and so far we've been using everything in savory dishes...grilled zucchini, for example.  But there's only so many times a week (or a day) we want to eat it after a while, so I said I'd make zucchini bread to use up some of the excess.

I know I mentioned this before somewhere in this blog, but many years ago I used up a TON of zucchini from someone's garden by making 17 different kinds (yes, seventeen) of zucchini bread, all pulled from the various cookbooks I owned at the time.  I ended up with 23 loaves.  I froze most and gave some away. 

One of the more memorable recipes was for a Chocolate Zucchini Bread.  It wasn't a sweet bread, not like, say, a carrot cake.  It was moist, and flavorful, and utilized a cup of shredded zucchini per loaf. 

I looked and looked, and found the recipe in the book Fast Breads!  by Howard Early and Glenda Morris on pgs. 66-67.  The recipe is actually for a Chocolate Potato Bread, but in a couple of paragraphs after they original recipe, they suggest substituting a cup of zucchini for the potato. 

And since we had a bunch of zucchini, I figured I should make more than just one loaf. 

So I made four. 

 

So in the photos, you'll see HUGE amounts of the ingredients, but keep in mind the list of ingredients below is only for ONE batch.  Just figured I'd mention that, just in case.

So here we go with the recipe.

Wet Ingredients:

1 C shredded zucchini

3/4 cup skim milk

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

(By the way, if you want to see all of the pictures like these two, head over here.)

1 oz melted or grated unsweetened chocolate (I grated mine right into the bowl of wet ingredients)

Dry Ingredients:

2  1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

What to do:

Combine the wet ingredients.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Mix together the dry and wet ingredients. 

Pour into a greased medium-sized loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes.

Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.

And enjoy!  I gave one loaf to our friends across the street, froze two, and we're in the process of eating the other one.

And the zucchini is still coming.  There will be more zucchini recipes to come....

Comments

[Tracee]

That sure looks delicious! I love visiting your site, thanks for all the good tips, photos, and recipes, YUMMY!!!

[rita]

I am intriqued! I've never used zucchini for anything sweet and I am such a huge zucchini fan! I am so gonna try this recipe! Thanks for the idea!

[Maebius]

/drool.

That is all.
oh wait... /drools again. :)

[Danielle]

Thank you for posting this! I grew up with a garden that included very prolific zucchini plants, so can sympathize with your plight of coming up with new ways to eat it. I love, love, love zucchini bread and am so intrigued by the chocolate combo. I've often made chocolate-banana bread, so I am sure I will love this version as well.

[just1beth]

I am the saddest girl in the world because I didn't plant a garden this year.(long story) I don't know what I miss most- tomatoes, basil, or zucchini.
Do you think it is too late to plant something? What could I plant???

[Jayne]

Oh, Beth! Hm. I'm thinking if you got some basil plants, you could put them in and they'd do okay - they like the heat. Our tomatoes aren't doing great this year, at least some of them, so don't even worry about those. In fact, if I were you, I'd just sneak over to Mere's house in the middle of the night and steal hers. And the zucchini...want some? We're having a crazy-good squash year.

[nickki]

That looks delicious! I actually made some chocolate zucchini loaf tonight for the first time, the kitchen smells wonderful.

[Y]

Love those photos, and the bread looks delicious!

[My Sweet & Saucy]

Great pictures! The bread looks sooo good too!

[sarah]

really, you should blow up the milk/oil picture and frame it!

[just1beth]

Yes- I'll take an extra zucchini you want to get rid of. Just give it to Mere when she comes today!! I think I will plant some basil- it will make me feel better!! PS Your kitties are really cute!!

[thordora]

I was hunting online for a recipie for this, and can't find the one I used last time but THIS looks AWESOME. I'll let you know. :)

[jaynesave]

I just came across your blog for the first time via a "chocolate zucchini bread" google search. Low and behold, one year later we are, as you were, up to our ears in zucchini. I love grilled zucchini, too, but am in need of some other recipes (as you can imagine!). I am so glad I came across this post!

Great blog, beautiful photos... Thank you!