Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I woke up way to early this morning after a night of poor slept. In my haze, I tried to figure out what to do with myself so that I could either jump start my system or put me back to sleep. As I stared at my fridge looking for an early morning snack to get things going, all I really could see in there were veggies. Specifically, zucchini. lots and lots of zucchini. So, to zucchini bread it was. Or, did I want chocolate zucchini cake? I couldn't decide. In the end, I decided to take the cocoa powder and add it to the bread (as well as some cocoa nibs, since I had them but no chocolate chips in my pantry).

Some of the best loaves I've ever made emerged from my oven. The zucchini was bright green specks in caramel colored loaves. The chocolate was a balancing accent to the zucchini; tastable but in no way overpowering. This recipe needed to be written down. I sure hope I can repeat it.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup whole wheat white flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

3 cups grated zucchini

1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup cocoa nibs (optional)

3 eggs

2/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup yogurt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour 2 bread pans.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Stir in the zucchini until it is well coated and mixed in.

Stir in the optional ingredients and mix well.

Mix together the wet ingredients and add to dry, mixing just enough to moisten everything.

Scoop into the bread pans.

Bake 50-60 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.