Perfectly spiced, perfectly sweetened, and a great way to use up your summer zucchini (or frozen zucchini any time of the year)! Recipe makes one loaf or 12 muffins.
6Tablespoons(85g) unsalted buttermelted and allowed to cool
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1 and ½cupsshredded zucchini2about 1 medium zucchini
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Spray a loaf pan (9" x 5") with non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cloves. Toss in the chocolate chips and whisk until evenly distributed. Set aside.
In a medium size bowl, whisk the sugars and the eggs together until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and the butter and whisk again until completely combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently just until combined. Fold in the zucchini with a spatula, and continue mixing gently until no flour pockets remain. Do not over mix.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top, if desired. Bake for 45-50 minutes, covering the pan with foil after about 20 minutes to prevent the loaf from browning too much, if desired. Loaf is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack. You may remove the loaf from the pan while it is still slightly warm. Slices stay fresh stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or in the refrigerator up to 10 days. Loaf or slices freeze well, up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
Ground cloves: clove is a very strong spice. I prefer ½ teaspoon cloves. If you're unsure of your preference, start with ¼ teaspoon or omit it completely.
Zucchini: If using frozen zucchini, thaw completely and wring out as much water as possible.
To make muffins: this recipe makes 12 standard size muffins. Bake time is 15-20 minutes.
If you'd like to omit chocolate chips and replace them with nuts or raisins, use ⅔ cup of add-ins (such as ⅓ cup of each or ⅔ cup of just nuts or just raisins). If you'd like to add in nuts or raisins in addition to chocolate chips, reduce chocolate chips to ⅓ cup and use ⅓ cup of nuts or raisins.Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.