Tag Archives: chocolate zucchini bread

Orange Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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ORANGE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD 3 watermarkZucchini season is in full swing, and I’m almost afraid to step into my garden. I’ve learned to only plant a few hills of the green stuff, but man, those plants pump out the zucchini! I grate and freeze bags of it, stir fry it, make fritters, and bake with it. And yet, there was a basket full of zucchini on my counter today…just sitting there guilting me.

When life hands you zucchini, make zucchini bread!

I’m really excited about the flavor combination in this bread. Chocolate and orange makes me dream of Christmas, but I’m happy to scarf it down any time of year. Like right NOW.

I was throwing ingredients together really fast because we were having a wild storm here and I was afraid we’d lose power before the bread had time to bake, so I totally forgot to add nuts to the batter. The bread had been in the oven for five minutes when I remembered, so I tossed some chopped pecans on the top. This was not one of my better ideas, since the weight of the nuts made the top of the bread sink a bit. It isn’t picture-perfect, but I can attest to the fact that the texture and taste is amazing.

I know this because I tested it several times. For the blog.

One nice thing about this recipe is that you just use one bowl and don’t even have to mess with a mixer. A wooden spoon is all you’ll need to mix up this batter. It’s a slam-dunk recipe, which is kind of nice once in a while. You’ll want to print this one out; it’s a keeper!

Orange Chocolate Zucchini Bread
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Author:
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Zest and juice from one large orange
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • ¼ cup cocoa
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 F.
  2. Generously grease and flour a standard loaf pan
  3. Beat together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  4. Mix in the orange zest and juice, buttermilk, and zucchini.
  5. Stir in the cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nuts just until combined. Don't over stir.
  6. Evenly spoon the batter into prepared pan.
  7. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread.
  8. Move pan to a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Release bread from pan and cool completely before slicing. (Ha ha ha...that's what everyone says. I've never managed to actually do this.)
  9. Enjoy!
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Grating orange zest

Grating orange zest

Add the zucchini

Add the zucchini

Stir just until mixed. Don't over stir!

Stir just until mixed. Don’t over stir!

Spread evenly in the prepared pan

Spread evenly in the prepared pan

Cooling on the rack. Wait for it.....

Cooling on the rack. Wait for it…..


ORANGE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

Orange Chocolate Zucchini Bread – The Rowdy Baker


So you know the drill. You can plant zucchini if you wish, but it’s easier to just leave your car door unlocked during zucchini season. Or put a sign on the bulletin board at work. Or come visit me!

Lorinda

Chocolate Mint Swirl Zucchini Bread

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Green and Spring

By now you may have realized that my cohorts (my mental health support group…my partners in crime) and I are on a roll! We had so much fun with our December group post featuring cakes that we decided to create a new series of recipes each month. We brought you dips in January. February was “Love and Food”. Now we are “Celebrating Green and Welcoming Spring” with recipes that include a naturally green ingredient. This was a little challenging for me since I love to make EVERYTHING green on St. Patrick’s Day, using copious quantities of green food coloring…which was not an option.


chocolate mint zucchini swirl bread w watermark
Zucchini was my “green” of choice, and I added a little spirulina (you can buy a small amount of it in bulk at most natural food stores) to deepen the color of a chocolate swirl zucchini bread. I originally used Irish Cream in the recipe, but even with the spirulina it just wasn’t green enough, and though it was tasty, I really wanted a little more flavor. Chocolate mint is a combination I love, so I swapped out Creme de Menthe for the Irish Cream and was very, very satisfied. Not a natural green source, of course, but I figure the zucchini and spirulina bought me a little leeway.

Either way is good, so I’m leaving the choice up to you. Or, if you really don’t want to use booze, you can always substitute milk and add teaspoon of peppermint extract for flavor.

Chocolate Mint Zucchini Swirl Bread
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Author:
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
  • 3½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 3 cups grated zucchini
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup oil
  • ½ cup buttermilk (or regular milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice)
  • ¼ cup strong coffee, cooled
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
  • ⅓ cup creme de menthe
  • ¼ teaspoon spirulina (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 F.
  2. Prepare two loaf pans by greasing and flouring, or using an oil/flour spray (like Baker's Joy)
  3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and walnuts. Add the grated zucchini and toss to coat.
  4. In medium bowl, whisk the eggs well. Add the oil and buttermilk and whisk until combined.
  5. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients (don't put the medium bowl in the sink - you'll use it in a minute) and stir just until most of the flour is incorporated. Put half of the mixture back in the medium bowl.
  6. To one bowl add the coffee and melted chocolate, and stir until it is combined. Don't overstir!
  7. To the other bowl add the creme de menthe and spirulina. Stir until just combined.
  8. Divide the chocolate mixture evenly between the two loaf pans. Pour the green mixture over the chocolate mixture and swirl a little with a rubber spatula or table knife.
  9. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Cooking time will depend on the size of your loaf pans. When I used slightly smaller pans the bread took a few more minutes to bake.
  10. Remove pans to a rack and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before turning the bread out. Allow bread to cool completely before cutting.
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Dry ingredients in one, liquids in the other.

Dry ingredients in one, liquids in the other.

Add liquids to dry ingredients.

Add liquids to dry ingredients.

Adding chocolate and coffee to half the batter

Adding chocolate and coffee to half the batter

Pour the green layer over the chocolate layer

Pour the green layer over the chocolate layer

Give it a swirl!

Give it a swirl!

Cooling before they're sliced

Cooling before they’re sliced



Mmm, mmm good.

Mmm, mmm good.

Here are links to the other recipes this month. Please visit the ones that have already been posted – there are some impressive ideas from some very talented gals – and then check back because I’ll add the new recipe links as they’re presented.

3/4/14 Pistachio Blueberry Cupcakes, from Baking In a Tornado
3/5/14 Key Lime Chiffon Cake, from Crumbs in My Mustachio
3/6/14 Colcannon Cheesy Potatoes with Kale, from Lemony Thyme
3/7/14 Asian Salad with Chicken, from Tampa Cake Girl
3/10/14 My Chocolate Mint Swirl Zucchini Bread
3/11/14 Roasted Tomato Spinach focaccia with Parm from Cooking from a SAHM
3/12/14 Lox Me Up and Throw Away the Key from Moore or Less Cooking Blog
3/13/14 Maple Poached Pear Salad with Walnut Crusted Goat Cheese from Hun…What’s for Dinner?

and still to come:

3/14/14 Manila Spoon