ABC - Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

When I selected this recipe for Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread a few months ago, I anticipated my garden producing more zucchini than we could possibly eat and share. Unfortunately, the weather this year has been a bit off, and our zucchini plants didn't react to it too well. The only ones that survived were those that produced yellow squash. I briefly considered using them but then I thought, having yellow specks in the chocolate bread might look weird. The green specks sort of blend in. Luckily, I found some zucchini at the store that was locally grown , so that's what I went with. I've had zucchini bread before, with the usual spices, but I had never combined it with chocolate until now :o) This was another winner by King Arthur Flour.

Double chocolate zucchini muffins and mini loaves!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

Why make 1 big loaf when you can make muffins and mini loaves that are easy to eat and share? That all sounds practical but the real reason I went that route was even more practical. When I baked these, it was an extremely hot day. Having the oven on for 60-70 minutes to bake 1 loaf was a bit much.

I used one zucchini which was about 10 oz in weight and called it a day (I didn't measure it by volume). I had one snafu. I measured the chocolate chips and said them aside. I remember thinking, don't forget to add them to the batter later. And that's exactly what happened. After I divided the batter into their respective baking pans, I noticed the chocolate chips. I sprinkled a little bit into each baking pans and used the good old (clean) index finger to mix it in :o) This was especially easy since the batter was a bit runny, however it baked up beautifully. I took the muffins out after ~20 minutes and baked the mini loaves for about 30 minutes.

Look at that beautiful and moist interior. Bon appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• I loved these. I ate one slightly warm with the chocolate chips still melty and gooey. They were incredibly chocolaty and moist. The texture is between a fluffy cupcake and a dense muffin. As for the zucchini, I couldn't detect any zucchini taste in them.
• Hubby liked them but wasn't crazy about them. He's not a big chocolate fan so they were a bit too chocolaty for him. He gave them an 8 out of 10 rating.
• I froze the leftover and took some to work to share. They tasted just as good as the day I baked them. I preferred mine slightly warm so I nuked it for about 10 seconds. Yum!
• If you'd like to make this recipe too, you can find the recipe HERE and step-by-step photos HERE.
• Don't forget to check out what the other ABC bakers thought of this recipe.