Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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I came across this Chocolate Zucchini Recipe from Simply Recipes on a whim yesterday while searching for “cocoa powder recipes”. As I mentioned before, we have a huge bag of 100% Cacao Extra Brute Cocoa Powder that is nearing it’s best-by date, so I’ve been trying to find new recipes to try out. I had extra zucchini left over from dinner the other night  (vegetarian enchiladas), so I decided to try this bread recipe out. I’m so glad I did! It was a really easy dish to make, and the house smelled fantastic while the bread was in the oven.

The end result doesn’t rise too much, so the bread is more rich, moist, and dense.. somewhere in-between a brownie and a cake. The boys in the family all ate it up without even realizing there was zucchini in it. This recipe is definitely a keeper! The only modifications I made were to use vanilla extract instead of almond, and omitted the instant coffee because we only use whole bean coffee in this house, and there wasn’t any instant coffee to be found.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

Makes two loaves. To make one, like I did, simply divide the recipe in half.

Ingredients

• 4 cups grated zucchini
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (12 tbsp)
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. Place the freshly grated zucchini in a sieve over a bowl to catch any excess moisture as it drains, while you work on prepping the other ingredients and preparing the recipe. If for some reason your zucchini is on the dry side, hydrate the shredded zucchini by soaking it in water first, and then place in sieve.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F, with a rack in the middle. Grease two 9×5-inch loaf pans with baking spray or butter.
3. Vigorously whisk together the flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk until there are no more clumps and the ingredients are well combined.
4. In a separate large bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs until smooth, about a minute. You can do this with an electric mixer on medium speed, or by hand with a wooden spoon. (I’m lazy and use a mixer but it’s easy enough to do by hand.) Add the melted butter, instant coffee granules, and almond extract and beat until smooth.
5. Mix the shredded zucchini into the sugar egg mixture. Add the flour to the zucchini mixture in 3 additions, stirring to combine after each addition.
6. Work quickly, and divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans. (Work quickly because once the dry ingredients have mixed with the wet ingredients, the leavening has begun.) Place into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes at 350°F, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean and easily. Remove to a rack. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a blunt knife around the edges to separate the bread from the pan. Remove from the loaf pans and let cool completely on a rack.

Note that if you try to slice the chocolate zucchini bread before it has completely cooled, it will be rather crumbly. It’s also easiest to slice with a bread knife.

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Obviously, we didn’t wait for it to cool. It smelled too good.