#10. Chocolate Zucchini Bread

THIS WAS A REALLY, REALLY GOOD ONE. It comes from a book my mom found at TJ Maxx and gave to me as a thank you present for taking care of Ginger and her puppies. The book is called Mary Engelbreit's Fan Fare Cookbook, and consists of family recipes contributed by people all across the United States, plus illustrations by beloved drawer of little blond girls in glasses, Mary Engelbreit. 

This recipe was submitted by Richard Mittelhauser of Melbourne, FL, who calls it "a third generation recipe." (I didn't know zucchini bread had been around that long, but my mom remembers someone she knew making it in the 1960's.) I made a half recipe, but used the full amount of cinnamon and omitted the almond extract (because I didn't have any). Also, it's possible that I used less sugar (I made this a couple weeks ago, so I don't remember, but that sounds like something I would do).

Here's a picture of the batter. Doesn't it look like something you wouldn't serve to your worst enemy?:

(Ha ha just kidding I would force-feed this to all of my enemies. Except that it tastes good. I  know that because I added the raw eggs last and tasted it just before. It almost didn't make it to the oven. UPDATE: I just realized it was the Zucchini and Cheese on Toast that I tasted before adding the egg. This one smelled good at least?)

Here is the book's version of the recipe, which makes TWO 9 by 5-inch loaves:

3 C. flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 eggs
3 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. canola oil
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate (hard baking chocolate--I used semisweet)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 C. coarsely grated zucchini (be careful--zucchini is slippery. Also, I used a third more, and probably could have gotten away with adding even more than that.)
1 C. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1/2 C. chopped dates

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans. Sift together (or just mix thoroughly--that's all I ever do) the dry ingredients (except for sugar and chocolate). In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add sugar and oil and mix well. Melt the chocolate (I'll put it in the microwave until it deforms halfway, then stir it until it's fully melted--that way it doesn't get a burnt taste) and add it and the vanilla and almond extracts to the egg mixture. Fold in the dry ingredients. Squeeze excess moisture from the zucchini (I just pressed it against the bottom of a measuring cup and tilted it so the water ran out). Add zucchini, nuts, and dates to the batter. Divide and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes (I baked it slightly longer and the knife still wouldn't come out clean--I'd say bake 1 hour and 20 minutes at least). Let stand on a wire rack for 20 minutes before removing from the pans.

This is one of those things that is "even better the next day," but by the next day, there was hardly any left (I guess that's why you're supposed to make two loaves at a time). My mom came over to visit the puppies the day I made this, so I served her a slice along with a cup of NUMI's excellent Aged Earl Grey tea (my mom shudders over the extra expense of Fair Trade, organic products, but admitted that this particular tea is probably worth the markup). It was an excellent combination.

Here's the snack I served my mom:

This bread is difficult to cut smoothly, especially on the first day, as it is very moist and crumbly. So here's the snack I made for myself:

Just a big pile of crumbs, pretty much. And yes, I drink tea out of a 2 C. measuring cup sometimes.

My mom said this bread tastes like date bread, and the flavor and texture of the walnuts and dates really do come through. What surprised me, though, was that there was also plenty of chocolate in it (I only used about a third of a baking bar--Sunspire is a very rich brand though). I'd recommend making this instead of chocolate brownies or cupcakes since it tastes at least as good, but has a lot of healthy fiber (from the zucchini, the dates, and the nuts) and not as much unhealthy stuff.

A+++