Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

 Today I made my very last zucchini bread of the year *sob.* I had a cup of leftover zucchini from the lemon blueberry bread I made, so I used it to make The Charm of Home's chocolate zucchini bread, since my last one was such an epic failure. Somehow, I hadn't made a chocolate one all summer after that, even though I love chocolate zucchini cake. Now that it's winter, I'm in more of a chocolate mood, so I chose this recipe out of all the delicious looking ones left on the list of 50. Below is the recipe for a whole loaf (I made a half-sized mini loaf).

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1/4 c honey
1/2 c coconut oil, in liquid form
1/2 c organic sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1/3 c cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark b/c it's more chocolatey)

1 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
2 c shredded zucchini
1 c chocolate chips, save 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top of bread

Instructions:
Prepare a loaf pan & preheat oven to 350.
Combine in a mixing bowl eggs, honey, oil, sugar, vanilla
Add flours, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder and stir to combine
Add zucchini and chocolate chips and mix well.
Pour into loaf pan and spread 1/4 chocolate chips on top
Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes
Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack. I like the chocolate chips still melty, so I always eat it warm. 


This turned out really well! I would definitely  make it again. It tasted like my mom's from when I was a kid...not all dry and gross like the one I made earlier in the summer.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Guess where I got this recipe? Off the wonderful collection over on this blog. My goal is to make 10 of them this year, so I'm working my way through. I already made a zucchini banana bread, but I was at my mom's and she asked me to make something from the overripe bananas she had sitting on the counter. Instead of making regular old banana bread, I went to the list and found one I hadn't made. This one calls for Greek yogurt, but I used regular vanilla, since that's what she had. I didn't adapt this one a whole lot, since it's already healthy-ish.

For this, I used:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cups white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup organic sugar
• 3 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vanilla (or plain) yogurt
• 1 cup zucchini, grated
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Mix brown sugar, bananas, eggs, vanilla extract, yogurt, zucchini and chocolate chips in another large bowl.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
4. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.
5. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (or Bread)

 When I was a kid, my mom made chocolate zucchini cake every summer. I still remember exactly how it tastes, unlike any other chocolate cake. I looked up some of the recipes for it on Pinterest, and they are almost all nearly identical. This one was a tiny bit different, as the chocolate chips were supposed to be mixed in and not spread on top of the bread. I didn't have chocolate chips, so I just made these a bit more chocolatey by adding extra cocoa powder, and I made them into muffins instead of bread. Unfortunately, I didn't add extra oil to make up for the dry cocoa powder, and they turned out a bit dry and not very good. Also, I was making these at the same time as I made pancakes for my son, and I got distracted and used all whole wheat, which didn't help any. They tasted really healthy, and not in the good way--kind of like a power bar.

The original recipe, this one from the list of zucchini bread recipes, calls for a brown sugar glaze, but I'm obsessed with cream cheese frosting, so I put it on everything, including these. It still couldn't save them, though.

I used:

• 1 C whole wheat flour (would recommend half white!)
• 1 t cinnamon
• ¾ t baking soda
• 5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ C coconut oil
• ½ C organic raw sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• ¼ C sour cream
• 1½ C grated zucchini
• 

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a large 9″ bread pan (or muffin tin with cupcake liners) and set aside.
2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a small bowl until combined. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together sugar, oil, and eggs. Add vanilla and sour cream.
4. Fold in the grated zucchini. Add the remaining dry flour ingredients. Stir to combine.
5. Pour into prepared 9″ bread pan or cupcake liners. Bake for 50-60 minutes for bread, 25-30 minutes for muffins, or until a toothpick in the center comes clean.
6. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes and remove from pan. Top with cream cheese frosting if desired. 

It's hard for me to give directions for this, since it was NOT good. Just don't follow my directions, or look for an alternative recipe, or try following the original recipe exactly. All I know is, these hung around on the counter for DAYS, and that's saying a lot for a chocoholic like me. I finally managed to eat them all, just to use them up, because I felt too guilty to throw them out, seeing as they weren't burnt to a crisp or anything (dang, I should have thought of that earlier...)

Butterscotch Brownies aka Blondies

I made these as an alternative to the regular chocolate brownies. I did alter the recipe a lot. I didn't have brown sugar, so I used regular sugar and molasses. I also cut the recipe in half, because I wasn't sure how much I'd like them. Then I cut the sugar in half again, since it seemed really sugary. And I left out the baking powder in Fannie's recipe, because I don't like fluffy brownies. I like them moist and chewy. And these turned out pretty fluffy anyway.

Batter going in the oven.

Here's what I used:
1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 c. organic sugar, plus 1/2 tsp. molasses
1 egg
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. white flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Golden and slightly shiny on top.

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Butter an 8x8 baking pan.
• Melt butter in saucepan, then add other ingredients, stirring to combine thoroughly.
• Spread in pan and bake 25 minutes or until dry on top and almost firm to touch.
• Let cool, then cut into squares.

Best Brownies Ever

This is a recipe I have made many, many times. When I stayed home with my son after he was born, I made dessert almost every night, and this was one of the regulars in my rotation. I have made it both with baking chocolate and with cocoa powder. I've also had some other brownie recipes that are very good, and they are all basically the same as this one, with perhaps a tiny tweak or two. The key is not to overcook them, to leave the brownies slightly soft in the center (toothpick will come out clean before they feel completely solid) and to avoid using any leavening except eggs. Otherwise, they are too cakey.

Fannie Farmer's recipe:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, unbeaten
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. walnut pieces (I didn't have these, so I skipped them)
1 tsp. vanilla

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Butter a 9x9 baking pan. 
• Mix chocolate and butter in a pan over low heat until melted (I used 1/4 c. cocoa powder and added 2 tbsp. extra butter to moisten it. If you use baking squares, stick with the 1/4 c. butter)
• Remove pan from heat, stir in the remaining ingredients.
• Spread in pan and bake until almost firm to touch (25-35 mins).

I love this recipe, esp. using Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder. It's chewy and delicious, with a slightly crisp skin on top. Never had better!

Chocolate Pudding (Blanc Mange)

My son could only eat soft food for two days after his surgery, so it was the perfect time to try out a pudding recipe or two. This recipe can be made chocolate or vanilla. I’m posting both recipes, since they are basically the same. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook says this is similar to a boxed pudding mix, and I have to say, it was pretty similar in taste. So if you like pudding mix but want to make your own, this is a perfect recipe.

Ingredients:

2 c. milk

3 tbsp. cornstarch

¼ c. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Vanilla

(Optional: 2 oz. Unsweetened chocolate)

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt.

Add ¼ c. cold milk and stir until dissolved

Scald remaining milk (and chocolate if making chocolate pudding, stirring until smooth)

Add cold milk to scalded milk and stir constantly over double boiler or in saucepan on low heat for 15 minutes to completely dissolve cornstarch.

Let cool before adding vanilla.

I followed this recipe exactly (first time for everything!) and it turned out delicious. I used extra dark cocoa powder, and it was EXTREMELY chocolatey. My son said it was too dark, but I loved it. The recipe says to add cream or whipped cream on top. I like warm pudding, so I ate it warm and poured cold whole milk over it. The contrast was divine. This recipe is a 5-star one that I’d like to make over and over—if I wasn’t so busy trying to make new recipes!