Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Our neighbors have a thriving garden with tomatoes and zucchinis, which they graciously share with us once various items ripen. We were lucky to receive 2 zucchinis from them a few days ago, which prompted me to try this recipe. (I thought there was vanilla in the recipe, hence its inclusion in the picture, but there wasn't!) 

This recipe was tweeted by the Food Network and it was only until later did I realize it was Paula Deen recipe. This often means two things: too much sugar and too much fat. However, since this recipe did not have butter (her usual poison), I decided to give it a try. (I included the parchment paper lining suggestion because both of my loafs got stuck on the bottom despite using non-stick spray.)

When I attempt new baking recipes, I usually try to follow it exactly to see if it is worth making and then proceed to make substitutions for health reasons for future attempts. I will definitely be cutting the sugar and making some substitutions for the oil in the future with this recipe. However, I must say that this recipe is quite good. The result was moist and tender bread that conveniently hid the fact that it was vegetable based. The Husband made 2 slices disappear within minutes, so I guess he liked it too! 

* If you read the 842 reviews, you'll find many suggestions for substitutions for sugar and oil. 

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups grated zucchini

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or chocolate chips 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prep 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, and line bottom of pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. 

3. Mix wet ingredients into dry, but don't over mix. Add nuts/chocolate chips and fold in. 

4. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick/skewer comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 20 minutes. Then remove from pan and cool completely. 

Hope you have a great Monday!