So I’m going to get real with you guys, I’ve been having a major creative struggle lately. Not really with cooking or coming up with the recipes but more with the journal part of the recipe, yes you’re in the middle of my creative struggle now, welcome to the darkness. The fact is that just writing about the food you make can start to get repetitive. It’s like okay is everything delicious and flavorful orrrr are you hiding something?? The answer is yes it is and no I’m not, don’t worry about it …
I digress though, the point is, I want to give everyone warning that I’m going to just start talking about different and random things in my posts in hopes that you guys all get a glimpse into the real me. Don’t worry, I’ll still keep talking about the recipes and try my best to find a tie in, but if the tie in is a stretch, don’t worry about it. Alright? Let’s get into the recipe!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread is the pick of the day and I’ll have you know that before I published this, I tested it 4 times until it got the Andrew Mahar seal of approval. I also tested it vegan twice so my vegan recommendations in the notes are real and not just a guess.
The reason it’s so important that this recipe got the approval from Andrew is because actually the first time I had zucchini bread was when we first started dating and he had a bunch saved in his freezer that his mom made.
It was clearly amazing, and that’s why I decided I need to learn to make it. If you can’t tell from many of my other posts, I’m often just trying to recreate Andrew’s childhood in my kitchen. This one has, after several rounds of testing, been approved.
I also tried this recipe once with less sugar and I’ll be honest with you guys, it was not great. Seriously, please use the sugar, without it it’s just not as good, even with all the extra flavoring I added from the ginger, cinnamon and cardomom.
So the lesson today is that while cutting back on sugar is always a good thing, if you’re making a dessert, it doesn’t always work. So hey, go ahead and enjoy this vegetable baked in flour and sugar and tossed with chocolate, it’s your world baby! Life is about balance after all 😉
Lots of Love,
Jackie
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Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Desserts, Breakfast
- Cuisine: Vegan, Vegetarian
Description
Fluffy, moist and sweet zucchini bread with an extra burst of flavor from spices like cinnamon, ginger and a touch of cardomom. A great holiday dessert or before dinner snack.
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini, shredded
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cardomom (optional)
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 5 large eggs, whisked (see notes for vegan)
- 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or other dairy/non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I buy the 63% stuff)
- Extra oil or non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease two 8 x 4 bread pans either with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
- You want to get the water out of the zucchini, do this by lining a plate with two sheets of paper towel, placing the zucchini on top then placing two more sheets of paper towel on top. I place a book on top as well to get extra moisture out. If you have a nut milk bag, you could just squeeze it out yourself.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardomom, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined. In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted coconut oil, sugar, almond milk and vanilla extract. I do this in my stand mixture but you can do it by hand whisking vigorously. Add the zucchini to the wet mixture and whisk until it’s mixed in.
- Add the dry ingredients directly into the wet ingredients and fold to combine. Do not use your stand mixer for this, you might overmix it on accident, just use a spatula and fold until combined. Once fully mixed into a batter, add the chocolate chips and fold.
- Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake for 50 minutes. If you’re baking both at the same time, it might take a little longer. Check to see if they’re done by sticking a toothpick into the bread, if it comes out clean you’re all done!
- Carefully remove from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack. I loosen it in the pan but running a knife gently around the edge then flipping it onto a rack.
Notes
Vegan – Make flax eggs by mixing 5 tbsp of flax seeds with 1/2 cup water. When making these vegan, I also add 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar to the almond milk ahead of time and giving it 7 minutes to start curdling. Also add an extra teaspoon of baking soda to help it rise.
