Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I realized the other day, I've made a lot of zucchini cake, but I've never made zucchini bread. Specifically, with chocolate chips. I perused the internets for a while, and while I found a bunch of interesting looking recipes, I really wanted something pretty standard. And something that would only use 2 eggs and 1 zucchini's-worth of zucchini, since those were the limits on my proportions. I eventually settled on this one, but made some changes anyway. I'm astounded that I managed to actually make this into a loaf of quickbread and not turn it into muffins... wow.

I don't have an Ed-rating for this, because it has zucchini in it, and its a moist, dense, bready-cake-thing, which is something he's scared of. Maybe he'll taste this and like it, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

In case it isn't obvious from the picture of the whole loaf, my oven has decided that the upper burner is going to go on super-duper-high, and the lower burner didn't turn on. Or something. The bottom and sides of the bread didn't get crunchy and crispy like most things do when I cook them in bread pans, and the top has a burned image of the burner above it. I hope this doesn't mean we need a new oven...


Next time, I'm tweaking this recipe so that its muffins. I mean, this stuff is good as slices, but it would be better as a muffin.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 9x5x3" loaf

1.5C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4tsp baking powder
3/4C sugar
1/4tsp salt
1 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 zucchini
1/2C applesauce
1/4C + 2 tbs oil
1/2C toasted walnuts
1/2C chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a 9x5x3" pan.

In a big bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In another bowl, mix the eggs, vanilla, oil, and applesauce. Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff, and mix just until everything is combined. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Plop the batter into the pan and bake for an hour.

Future Changes (coming soon to a blog near you)
It tasted a little too baking-soda-ish. I'm going to add some yogurt, so that it reacts with the baking soda, and take out the applesauce. That wasn't adding anything anyway. I'll probably take out the +2tbs of oil, too, because why get a quarter cup measure dirty and then a tablespoon measure dirty too? And I'm definitely making these as muffins next time. I think they need more nuts and maybe fewer chocolate chips, as you can see below, there are a lot of chocolate chips studding this loaf. Luckily, its "dry" enough that they don't all sink to the bottom. Hence my belief that it really wants to be a muffin.

It was delicious, though. Moist, with a crunchy top. and chocolate chips inside. What more could you ask for?