{"id":8724,"date":"2009-10-04T16:34:44","date_gmt":"2009-10-04T20:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=8724"},"modified":"2009-10-04T19:49:57","modified_gmt":"2009-10-04T23:49:57","slug":"chocolate-zucchini-bread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2009\/10\/chocolate-zucchini-bread\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate Zucchini Bread"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_loaf21.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8729\" title=\"Chocolate Zucchini Loaf\" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_loaf21-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Chocolate Zucchini Loaf\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_loaf21-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_loaf21.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Not that long ago I had a hankering for some chocolate zucchini bread.\u00a0 Or at least I assumed this was the case, as I had never actually had chocolate zucchini bread.<\/p>\n<p>Zucchini bread, yes.\u00a0 But it was always the same way, spicy and more along the lines of like a carrot cake, spice cake kind of taste.\u00a0 Lots of cinnamon, clove, and allspice in the mix.<\/p>\n<p>That wasn&#8217;t exactly what I envisioned.\u00a0 I wanted a dense chocolate quick bread with some zucchini in it.\u00a0 I started looking around for recipes to see what I could find.\u00a0 There were loads out there!<\/p>\n<p>But they all had tons of sugar, white flour, and a load of eggs in them.<\/p>\n<p>This is where my knack to never follow a recipe comes in handy.\u00a0 I looked at the recipes to get an idea of the basic ingredients and then I created my own chocolate zucchini bread recipe.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Andrea&#8217;s Chocolate Zucchini Bread<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wet Ingredients:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2C shredded zucchini<\/li>\n<li>1\/3C light olive oil<\/li>\n<li>1 egg white (or 3 TBSP of egg whites from a carton)<\/li>\n<li>1C soymilk (plus a few extra splashes at the end)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Dry Ingredients:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2C Whole Wheat Pastry flour (or regular <abbr class='c2c-text-hover' title='Whole Wheat'>WW<\/abbr> flour is fine)<\/li>\n<li>1C Unbleached all purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>1\/2tsp Baking soda<\/li>\n<li>2tsp Baking powder<\/li>\n<li>1\/4C Cane sugar<\/li>\n<li>4TBSP Unsweetened Dark Chocolate Powder<\/li>\n<li>2TBSP Ground flax<\/li>\n<li>2tsp Ground cinnamon<\/li>\n<li>Freshly grated nutmeg (about 1\/2tsp)<\/li>\n<li>Pinch cayenne pepper (just a small, very wee pinch)<\/li>\n<li>Pinch kosher salt (very small amount)<\/li>\n<li>1.5C Dark chocolate chips (can use milk if prefer)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Preheat oven to 350 degrees.\u00a0 In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients.\u00a0 In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients, making sure everything is incorporated.\u00a0 Then slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring gently to combine everything.\u00a0 You want to fold everything together, easily as possible.\u00a0 This is a very thick and dense mixture.\u00a0 You may need to add a few splashes of soymilk in to help the ingredients combine and move along.\u00a0 However do not add more than an extra 1\/3C.\u00a0 Add in the extra amount a tablespoon at a time.\u00a0 This will help keep the mixture thick and dense.<\/p>\n<p>Once everything is combined, place mixture in a loaf pan (I used a 9x5x3 loaf glass pan) that was sprayed with nonstick spray.\u00a0 Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.\u00a0 Or until a toothpick inserted in the center (highest peak) comes out clean.<\/p>\n<p>Allow to cool for about 10 minutes or so, then slice and enjoy!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_slice1.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-8730\" title=\"Chocolate Zucchini Bread slice \" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_slice1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Chocolate Zucchini Bread slice \" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_slice1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/OHC-choco_zuc_slice1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Let me state right up front that this is not a very sweet bread.\u00a0 You can see from the ingredients, I&#8217;m only adding in 1\/4C of cane sugar.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t care for sweets much and most recipes called for something like 2C or so of sugar.\u00a0 Holy crap that&#8217;s a lot of sugar!\u00a0 Not for this sister!\u00a0 A quarter cup of sugar is plenty.\u00a0 This is a decedent and rich chocolate zucchini bread and beyond amazing.\u00a0 I was so pleased with the way this came out and both Scott and I adore it.<\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s talk about the ingredients a bit.\u00a0 To me, this is a very healthy snack.\u00a0 I like to snack every so often and I like to indulge my wild side but at the same time, I like keeping things healthy.\u00a0 It&#8217;s how I prefer to be, and this bread makes for a nice healthy treat.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have to use whole wheat flour?\u00a0 No, if you want to use all purpose for the whole thing, knock your socks off!\u00a0 If you want to add more sugar, go for it. If you don&#8217;t have ground flax, don&#8217;t sweat it!\u00a0 You can also use regular milk too if you like.<\/p>\n<p>I like organic cane sugar because it&#8217;s healthier but if you have white sugar on hand, you can use that.<\/p>\n<p>I also use olive oil because if I have to add oil to a recipe, it&#8217;s going to be a good oil.\u00a0 If you have vegetable or canola, feel free to use that.\u00a0 I like olive because of it&#8217;s added health benefits.<\/p>\n<p>This is my vision of what a perfect chocolate zucchini bread is like.\u00a0 The beauty of recipes is that we can play around with ingredients!\u00a0 So you can do whatever your little heart desires.<\/p>\n<p>I encourage you to not forget the cayenne though because it adds such a nice warmth to the flavor.\u00a0 Cinnamon is very spicy and provides a nice heat.\u00a0 The addition of cayenne takes that heat a little bit further and gives it some depth as well.\u00a0 Trust me on this, go for the cayenne!<\/p>\n<p>I have used vanilla and plain soymilk in this recipe and both work very well.\u00a0 I also have used milk and dark chocolate chips, and again, both work really well.\u00a0 My preferred chocolate powder is Ghirardelli but use whatever you have on hand.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/OHC-09-25-09_snack.jpg\" data-rel=\"attachment-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-8584\" title=\"chocolate zucchini muffin \" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/OHC-09-25-09_snack-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"chocolate zucchini muffin \" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/OHC-09-25-09_snack-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/OHC-09-25-09_snack.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;ve also made this into muffins instead of a loaf, and they also came out great!\u00a0 Makes just shy of 24 muffins.\u00a0 Cook time is reduced to about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.<\/p>\n<p>This also makes for a great prerun snack the night before a morning run. <img src='\/images\/biggrin.gif' alt=':D' \/>\u00a0 It&#8217;s carblicious and dense so it sticks with you.\u00a0 I can also tell you that the chocolate zucchini bread goes great with red wine, white wine, and beer.\u00a0 Pumpkin beer is a fabbo accompaniment!<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re craving some chocolate, give this bread a try and tell me what you think!<\/p>\n<p><strong>ETA:<\/strong> I also wanted to mention that this bread freezes very well.\u00a0 Stick in a freezer bag and forget about it till you need a little chocolaty snack. <img src='\/images\/smile.gif' alt=':)' \/><\/p>\n<p>Remember guys, have fun and always play with your food!\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not that long ago I had a hankering for some chocolate zucchini bread.\u00a0 Or at least I assumed this was the case, as I had never actually had chocolate zucchini bread. Zucchini bread, yes.\u00a0 But it was always the same way, spicy and more along the lines of like a carrot cake, spice cake kind [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8,22],"tags":[20,63,16],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KYWa-2gI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}