Cooking Class: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

  

We were giddy when the first zucchini was harvested from our garden!  Huge, isn't it?   Immediately GMan yelled "Zucchini Bread" (a tradition each summer).    Rather than use my same old recipe, I decided to troll the internet for something better.   BOY, did I find it!   This recipe is GREAT!    


I'll walk you through it:


First, shred your zucchini (1 1/2 cups, which is about 1 medium zucchini)

Place 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil,  and 2 large eggs  in your mixer -- beat until blended.


Add 1 cup applesauce (I am convinced this is what makes the bread soooo good!)  and stir into mixture.  (Do you like my shameless plug for The Fresh Market?  We just got one close to us and I LOVE IT!)

Combine 2 cups all purpose flour with 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (yep, I was surprised by this ingredient, but it works!), 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Stir it well with a whisk.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stirring until just moist.  

Add your zucchini

...and 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Be sure to reserve enough chocolate chips for cute children to snack on while the bread is baking!

Spoon the batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

This recipe came from Cooking Light, and I found it at Myrecipes.com.   I find a lot of great recipes at this site.  

Do you have a recipe that uses zucchini?  We are going to have TONS of them this summer and while I love the zucchini bread, I'd like some different recipes, too!!