Oh my gourd…it’s finally Fall!

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

Now that it’s officially Fall it seems like everyone and their sister is posting about pumpkin. Spiced lattes, pies, cakes…it’s 50 shades of pumpkin everywhere you look on Insta. Don’t get me wrong I love cooking and baking with pumpkin, but oh my gourd there are so many other delish options beyond the plump orange mainstay of the season.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately, but all this pumpkin talk reminded me of the recipes my mom made with zucchini when I was growing up. One of my favourites is this chocolate zucchini loaf she used to bake as the weather turned a little cooler. I’m sure kids at school thought my brother and I were wacky when a slice appeared in our lunches…‘Ew, chocolate and zucchini?!’…but since nobody wanted to trade snacks we didn’t care, there was more for us.

It’s probably been 25 years since I’ve had this and tasting it again today brought me right back to my childhood, hanging out with mom in the kitchen. The chocolate flavour is light but if you wanted a more intense chocolatey result, try replacing 2 – 3 tablespoons of the flour with cocoa powder.

TIP: add the nuts to the flour mixture so they are coated before you combine the dry with the wet ingredients. This will keep the nuts from sinking to the bottom of the loaf during baking.

Hope you like it!

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)

  • 3 eggs
  • 1¾ cup sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 2 cups grated zucchini, unpeeled
  • 2 oz melted unsweetened chocolate (any good quality baking chocolate or chocolate chips will do)
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt

 

Method

Preheat oven to 350° F.

  1. Lightly grease and flour two, 4 x 8 loaf pans
  2. Sift flour and dry ingredients together. Stir in chopped nuts and set aside.
  3. Using a hand mixer, beat eggs well and gradually add oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth, about 2 minutes
  4. Add melted chocolate and grated zucchini, mix well
  5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture in two additions
  6. Divide batter equally into pans
  7. Bake 45 – 50 minutes, let cool on a baking rack before removing from the pans