Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Posted by fleggio1 on

During my sophomore year I found out that I had a higher sensitivity to food. With a chronic stomach illness, I can no longer eat whatever I wanted. I struggled to find a balance between healthy snacks that were good for me, and unhealthy food that gave me joy. Thankfully my mom was patient with me. She researched dozens of alternative recipes, and even chose a pescatarian diet with me. She would always make and buy a variety of snacks for me, always ask which ones I liked best, and checked in with me to find out how I reacted to them. 

It was around this time when she decided she would experiment with baking and make healthy treats for me. She tried baking different types of bread and muffins. There was a variety of pumpkin breads during fall, almond bread, walnut bread, and my favorite, zucchini bread. 

She found this recipe for chocolate zucchini bread that has been my absolute favorite snack ever since I first tried it. Not only does it just taste like a chocolate chip muffin, but it has health benefits from the vegetable. 

This was the recipe:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour 
  •  1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa 
  •  1 teaspoon baking soda 
  •  1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
  •  2 large eggs at room temperature 
  •  1/4 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled 
  •  1/4 cup canola vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil 
  •  3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 
  •  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
  •  1 1/2 cups packed shredded zucchini 
  •  1 cup semisweet chocolate chips divided 

I could always tell when she made this dish. I would be up in my room finishing my homework and be able to smell the sweet aroma of the bread. Every time my mom would take the bread out of the oven I would ask if I could have a piece, but she never let me because it was too hot and wouldn’t cool down properly if I cut it now.  

To make the recipe my mom would follow these steps; 

First, she would lay out all the ingredients on our kitchen counter and pull out any measuring cups and bowls she needed. Then, she would prepare the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately. As she went through the recipe, preparing the sweet mixture she would always listen to the radio. Sometimes she would be listening to a story on NPR or jamming out to “Bad Reputation” on the mixtape my sister made her for Christmas. Then, as the bread was cooking, she would clean the dishes she used. Whenever I cook, I always end up waiting until after the food is ready, and I have eaten before I start my dishes, but her method of cleaning as you go is a much better idea.  

Then, when the bread was ready it was always sitting on a cooling rack on a clean kitchen counter. 

The real directions for the recipe are as follows; 

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. 
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside. 
  1. In a large bowl, add the eggs, melted butter, oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. You might have a few small brown sugar clumps and that is fine. 
  1. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in the shredded zucchini until just combined. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips. 
  1. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. 
  1. Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve. 
  1. Note-if you use coconut oil, make sure it is melted and slightly cooled. The bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.  

(https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-zucchini-bread/) 

The bread was always a little crispy on the outside giving it a bit of a crust, but soft, moist, and condense on the inside. When warm the chocolate chips would melt, giving the zucchini bread a sweeter flavor. When I ate this at home, I would always toast it, then put either cream cheese or butter on it, mixing sweet with savory.  

Not only did I love eating this, but my friends did as well. My mom would always make me a giant lunch for school because she was concerned about what I would eat, so I would always have extra to share. I usually had an extra slice of bread that I would offer to my friends, and they would fight to eat it. I remember one specific day I was asked to bring in a whole loaf of bread, and when I did my friends and I finished all of it within 20 minutes. 

I cannot wait until I get home and my mom makes this again. I love being able to snack on it throughout the week, and not worry about what affect it will have on me. Finding healthy alternatives has been difficult, especially while living on my own, but it has made me feel a hundred times better and allowed me to try many kinds of food. 

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