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What to do with all of the summer squash in your garden or fresh from the Farmer’s market? Why definitely make this! Zucchini can be prolific unless you have an attack of the squash vine borer, like we did this year. We still got a decent amount before the plants died. Regardless, this is the perfect recipe for you. Literally hop into the kitchen and make this right now. It’s such a treat–moist, delicious and healthy! Who doesn’t love having some vegetables for breakfast? This chocolate zucchini bread may be my favorite recipe creation this summer. Inspired by a recipe from Martha Stewart but way changed up, “healthified” you might say, sorry Martha. My chocolate zucchini bread is still a treat for any time of day.

Confession: I’m not a chocolate lover. In fact I don’t like it. Fine I said it. I know I know–Who doesn’t like chocolate? I’ve heard that all my life. But this is why you never see chocolate recipes around these parts. As long as I can remember, I haven’t liked the stuff. I still to this day cut the chocolate off my Snickers bar at Halloween. Now being the weirdo I am, there’s some notable exceptions to this. I do like brownies but only the chewy edge and only if they are stuffed full of walnuts.  I can handle the chocolate on a peanut butter cup for s’mores but never a hersey’s piece (yuck). So why the heck even try something like chocolate zucchini bread? Honestly, we were tired of traditional zucchini bread and still had several big ones from our garden. I made it for the kids.

But, turns out, if you add ground cinnamon to the mix and lower the chocolate amount, I’m a big fan. This wasn’t too chocolate-y and still felt appropriate for breakfast. Using organic coconut sugar removes the refined sugar element. And I love coconut sugar because it has a richer flavor, like brown sugar. I get mine at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. It’s widely available at this point or you can order it off Amazon.

INGREDIENTS

(makes 2 loaves)

1 C Sunflower Oil

2 C Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/4 C Organic Coconut Sugar

1/2 C Maple Syrup

1/4 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp Real Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 Heaping tsp Ground Cinnamon

4 Large Eggs

2 tsp Pure Vanilla extract

3 C Finely Grated Zucchini, water squeezed out

 

GLAZE

1 C Powdered Sugar

1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds

One Tbsp Oat Milk (+ a little more if needed to make a thick frosting consistency)

INSTRUCTIONS

Start by heating the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 baking loaf pans, I use olive oil spray.

Finely grate 2-3 medium zucchinis or one jumbo guy like we let get out of hand. You want 3 full cups of finely grated zucchini. Place in a colander and squeeze some water out. You don’t have to go crazy, I just give it a light squeeze so it’s not sopping wet.

Place grated zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients except those for the glaze. This is a one bowl recipe. Mix it all together thoroughly.

Fill loaf pans evenly about no more than 3/4 full to allow space for rise.  Place in the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes. I covered mine with tin foil around the 30 minute mark to prevent the tops getting too dark. This can lengthen the baking time so watch yours and poke with a knife to test doneness. As always, oven bake differently. Watch the time and use a knife inserted in the center–it should come out clean and not gooey.

Don’t you just want to dive face first into that? Hard to even wait for it to cool down. It smells so good. While you’re salivating, go ahead and mix up the glaze and once it’s cooled a tiny bit, pour it on.

We found that the first few slices fell apart a bit (clearly) because we were over eager and hadn’t let it cool at all. Give it half an hour and it cuts beautifully (and doesn’t burn the roof of your mouth). Good things come to those who wait. Haha.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this one! I had every intention of freezing the second loaf but it never made it to the freezer. It’s that good. Ruth Eileen Photography captured these pictures beautifully!