Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Confession: sometimes I wish I didn't care what my children eat. I envy those oblivious mothers who hand out candies and cookies without batting an eye. They might uphold common restrictions like not eating too much before dinner, but for the most part they don't stress over their child's diet.

I, on the other hand, get irrational mental visions of decaying cells gasping for real nutrients when I see my kids eating junk, especially candy (sugar and food coloring). I know what's good and what's bad for them. I know how it affects them. And I know that in today's world it's almost impossible for every food to be perfectly nutritious. Somehow something always falls short: it's GMO, it has sugar, look! the box says no high fructose corn syrup, oh but it has plain corn syrup, it's unhealthy fat (who eats cotton seeds?), there are 3 ingredients that have 9 letters that are unpronounceable, etc. Being so aware is at once discouraging and empowering. We have to make choices and lots of compromises.

Our family's diet isn't perfect (you'll find some pretty nutritiously questionable items in the pantry and freezer) but I've learned to focus on what I can control and to let go of what I can't. I aim to give my kids enough freedom to try things, but I do my best to educate them on what's good for the body and what isn't. You don't want to be behind us at the snack isle where you'll likely witness a crying toddler grasping some kind of flashy red sugary snack and the unfazed mother (moi) calmly switching it with a jumbo-sized Bamba bag. It's the little things.

Let's talk about this bread. Or cake, I should say. I don't know who named this loaf zucchini bread, it really should be zucchini cake. Cake, cake, cake. This loaf of what I'll call Chocolate Zucchini Cake (despite what the title says) has a nice dense crumb. It's just sweet and healthy enough to call breakfast. I made it refined sugar-free and used whole wheat flour (I can imagine that substituting with gluten free flour or almond flour would also work, but it wouldn't have the same height), and best of all it has zucchini, a green vegetable. One can never have too many green vegetables.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Dry ingredients:
2 cups (320g) white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
3/4 cups melted coconut oil
3/4 cups honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups finely grated zucchini


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
 2. In a medium-sized bowl sift* the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients, save for the grated zucchini.
3. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ones until well combined. Stir in the zucchini.
 4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
 5. Let cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan.
6. Slice and serve.

Variations:

• Stir in a handful of chocolate chips, walnuts, almonds, and/or coconut flakes
• Bake in a muffin tin for 20 minutes

This recipe is freezer-friendly. Tightly wrap the loaf in plastic wrap and store in freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you want to use a few slices at a time, individually wrap the slices and place them in a freezer bag. Great to pack into lunches every morning.

*Notes:
1) When baking, I like to weigh the flour. There can be a great difference when you simply scoop and measure in a cup. If you don't have a chance to weigh, make sure you do the scoop and level method of measuring your flour.

2) Sifting the dry ingredients in a standard sifter helps distribute all the powdered ingredients evenly. You can skip this step, but make sure you mix the dry ingredients well.