Last month my wife and I had decided that we were going to start cutting out the unhealthy habits in our lives. First to go, Diet Coke. I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard, but we have gone 42 days and still craving it every single one of those days. This month we decided to cut out sweets. Basically, we decided no more candy. But what do you do when you have a sweet craving? You can’t just ignore it, but if you try to feed it you may be like me and completely get out of control. Thankfully, we found a healthier solution; chocolate zucchini bread.
I know, chocolate zucchini bread isn’t healthy, but it is much better than if I were to bake eight dozen chocolate chip cookies, eat the dough and half the cookies I baked. I really have no self control. I love this chocolate zucchini bread because it’s just the right amount of sweetness, deliciously moist and packed full of that home grown zucchini that you have been trying to figure out what else to do with.
The crumbly topping is what gets me every time. I love that it is sweet giving the bread a dessert feel to it. Honestly though, anytime I eat something that is supposed to be a “dessert” but is packed with a vegetable I feel like it’s not breaking the rules. Plus, this recipe makes a couple small loaves. You will be able to enjoy one with your family and give the other to a friend or neighbor. They’ll love you for it just as much as you’ll love the chocolate zucchini bread.
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 cups shredded zucchini
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- Topping:
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two loaf pans and set aside.
- Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- WIth a stand or hand mixer beat oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar and eggs until combined and slightly fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add vanilla and sour cream and mis until combined. Gently stir in the zucchini. Take a spoonful of the flour mixture and stir in with the chocolate chips (that will help keep them evenly distributed). Stir remaining flour mixture into batter and mix just until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Divide the batter between the two pans and sprinkle topping over each.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. Set your times for 45 minutes and then cover the loaves with foil for the remaining time. When they’re done, a toothpick or skewer would come out without goopy batter on it and the tops will be gorgeous and cracked with sugar. Remove from oven and let them cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and then remove from pans.
