Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Bread |

One of the things I love about summer are all of the fresh vegetables that we are able to grow, pick, and then eat up! Our zucchini plants look excellent this year and we’ve been chowin’ down on everything from grilled zucchini, stir-fried zucchini, sautéed zucchini, to zucchini bread. My family loves zucchini bread, but today I made something that I have never made before – CHOCOLATE zucchini bread – and boy is it good! I was at a friend’s house the other day and she had made this bread with her grandson and allowed us a taste test and I loved it! She gladly shared her recipe, which I adapted a bit by using whole wheat flour and an applesauce/butter combination instead of the vegetable oil that it called for. She also added raisins and chocolate chips to her bread, which I chose to forego this round. The basics are still the same though, and I was very happy with the results!

Despite the chocolate connotation in the title of this recipe, this bread really does have some great nutrition. {This is what I am telling myself anyway. It helps me to feel less guilty about the sugar and butter that I am ingesting. It’s like the good cancels out the bad…right? Yep. That’s what I am going with. I give you permission to go there with me as well.} So, as I was saying, this bread really does have some healthy factors going for it – from using freshly ground whole wheat flour {I love my WonderMill grain mill by the way!}, not to mention it is packed full of this lovely summer vegetable we call the zucchini. If you have a picky I-won’t-eat-any-food-that-is-green member in your house, the dark chocolate hue of this bread does an excellent job of disguising the green of the shredded zucchini. He, he, go ahead and trick them…you have my approval! Hopefully when they take a bite, the only thing they will notice is a chocolatey-sweet, moist, and delicious quick bread that actually tastes more like cake!

If you are like me, you won’t want to limit just making this in the summer. Go ahead and make a loaf {this recipe actually makes 3!}, but make sure to shred some extra zucchini and pop it in the freezer to ensure you can make this again come the winter months! Enjoy! -Shelley.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Bread
*Makes 3 loaves
*Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
*Bake 40-50 minutes

3 c whole wheat white flour {I used my WonderMill to freshly grind the wheat}
3 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 t almond extract
3/4 c + 1 T butter, melted
3/4 c + 1 T unsweetened applesauce
3 c grated zucchini
*grease and flour 3 loaf pans

Start off by grating 3 cups of zucchini. Set aside.

Grease and flour 3 loaf pans. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine whole wheat white flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well to combine.

In another large mixing bowl combine eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, applesauce and melted butter. Whisk well to combine.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, try to not over mix.

Add grated zucchini to batter and fold in.

Divide batter evenly between the 3 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40-50 minutes {or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean}.