I like to have a loaf of bread available in the morning as a homemade alternative to pain au chocolat, which I have no idea how to make - it's just so fancy. This zucchini banana bread is actually a modified Paula Deen recipe, despite it not being disgusting. For the loaf I photographed I used a bar of Ghirardelli dark chocolate that I crushed up, which sounds all sexy and stuff, but I actually prefer just using chocolate chips - FYI. Oh, another FYI - you can replace the banana in this with mushed up butternut squash, if you want to impress somebody. Here's your ingredients list:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose (or wheat) flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/2 cup mushed bananas (or you could do a full cup of each? play around with it!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with a stick of unsalted butter. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in apple sauce, vanilla, zucchini, chocolate chips. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaf from pan and let cool. C'est bon!
These are actually almost vegan pumpkin muffins that I adapted from Post Punk Kitchen. I sort of ruined the vegan thing by adding chocolate chips and honey. Oops! I determined to try these after ruining a pumpkin loaf with faulty measurements. I tried to salvage the undercooked mess by pulling it apart into balls and pan frying them. I thought it would make donut holes or something, but it was just awful. So don't do that. These muffins are awesome, though, and it's easy enough to re-veganize them if that's something you adhere to! The ingredients list is below (this makes twelve muffins):
1 3/4 cups all-purpose (or wheat) flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup pureed pumpkin (organic, from a can)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup apple sauce
however much honey you think this needs to taste good!
Preheat oven to 400°F. Put eco-friendly muffin cups in a twelve-muffin tin. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, soy milk, and apple sauce. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix. Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
For some reason, my muffins came out looking like little cupcakes? They were tasty, but I wish they looked as hearty as the ones Vanessa Rees made! Like this post? Check out some of my other favorite recipes here and here.
