As indulgent as this may sound, this recipe is actually very healthy. By replacing some of the eggs with egg whites, using mostly whole wheat flour in place of white flour and relying on pumpkin to moisten the cake instead of oil, you end up with a healthy but still incredibly tasty dessert! Thanks for the recipe mum!

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

Yesterday, I decided to make chocolate zucchini bread. If you're referring back to my previous blog post - no, I did not receive zucchini in my CSA this week. However, zucchini is delicious and I had some extra in the refrigerator. 

Zucchini is a great summer vegetable that is very versatile; zucchini can be sliced or shredded, cooked or even used in baking.



I usually grill zucchini, but I decided to try something new. Here's a recipe I found on my CSA's blog.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

(Yields 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
• 2 cups sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups to make the bread a little less sweet)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups zucchini, shredded (I used 1 medium zucchini)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (this is optional, but I love chocolate, so extra chocolate is not optional for me!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Spray 2 bread pans with non-sticking spray (the original recipe suggests using 2 8x4 inch pans. Since I am planning on sharing the finished product with friends and family, I'm baking 4 mini loaves)
3. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder; set aside
4. Shred zucchini (I used a food processor); set aside
5. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla
6. Gradually add dry ingredients
7. By hand, stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips
8. Pour into two greased loaf pans (you could also bake these into muffins instead of bread loaves)
9. Bake for 1 hour or until bread is springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the bread comes out clean (my mini loaves baked in 40 minutes)

Here is the chocolate zucchini bread in the mini loaf pan before baking...




...and after baking.



And here is the finished product!

 


Enjoy and thanks for reading!