Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Once zucchini come into season, they try to take over. They overrun gardens, markets and refrigerators. Fortunately, they are very versatile and can be prepared in a variety of ways. You can add them to all kinds of savory dishes, from sides of roasted vegetables to soups. And, just like carrots (and lettuce!), zucchini has a mild enough flavor and texture that it can be a great addition to sweet dishes, too.

Zucchini adds a lot of moisture to a sweet quick bread like this Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. To be honest, even though this is considered to be a quick bread because it is loaf-shaped and doesn’t really need any frosting, this is more of a cake. It is just sweet enough and has loads of chocolate flavor. One of the advantages to calling it a “bread” is that you can get away with serving it at breakfast or brunch, with tea or coffee, and don’t have to feel guilty about getting a chocolate fix early in the day. That said, it makes a great, easy dessert, too.

I like to throw a bunch of chocolate chips into this bread, as they make it even more chocolaty. If you’d rather have a little more texture, you can also stir in some walnuts or pecans, too.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium zucchini, shredded (1 – 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until almost fully combined. Add in the zucchini and chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed in the batter (batter should be fairly thick).
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only moist crumbs attached.
Turn loaf out of pan and cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf.