My love of all things Kitchen started early. When I was a kid, one of my favorite things was to go over to my Aunt Donna’s house for a Baking Day. These might as well have been official holidays as far as I was concerned. By the end of the day, the kitchen table would be covered with cakes, Amish Friendship Bread, cookies… anything drool-worthy, it was there. Aunt Donna was our family’s official baking genius. You need a recipe, she’s got it. She even taught cake decorating classes at the local middle school.
Aunt Donna had three sons: J, P, and D:
The Boys, circa 1995ish. This is one of my favorite photos on the planet. How two boys managed to hide almost entirely behind a baby, I still can’t figure out. Anyway, these lil’ cuties are now 28, 24, and 21. *sigh* Makes me feel old…
And I got recruited to babysit them a lot, which was okay with me, becauseit meant I got free pizza and a little cash and got to watch 3 Ninjas with my cousins. Or Ninja Turtles. It varied occasionally.
“We don't wanna hurt youuuu… we just wanna kidnap you!”
And in honor of this blog post, I made a special trip down Memory Lane and scanned in a pile of old photos. Enjoy.
Myself with Aunt Donna’s two oldest boys, J & P, circa 1992-3. Check. Those. Bangs. Thanks Mom.
So when a pile of zucchini landed at my house (thanks to the Mom-In-Law), I knew some of Aunt Donna’s famous Chocolate Zucchini Bread was in order.
Though…I mean…really. CHOCOLATE. It’s cake. We can call it bread all day long, but nobody’s spreadin’ butta on it & serving it as a side with spaghetti. But it’s made in a loaf pan, so I GUESS we can call it a bread.
Whatevs. It’s DELICIOUS no matter what you call it. And a “better for you” dessert choice, since zucchini has tons of fiber, Vitamins A & C, and magnesium, along with a slew of other good-for-new minerals.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce (Change #1 that I make from the original recipe—purists could use oil, but this cuts out a good bit of fat & calories)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Splenda (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup sugar)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cup shredded zucchini
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup of mini chips)
Directions:
First, have a front porch concert with your cousin. Jump rope microphone required.
Circa 1987? Squawking chicken backup microphone entirely optional.
Now that that’s out of your system, go preheat your oven to 350F.
Next, beat together flour, cocoa, baking soda & powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set mixture aside.
Then beat together the applesauce, sugars & Splenda, eggs, & vanilla. Fold in your zucchini.
Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chips.
CHOCOLATE….
Pour into a greased & floured pan:
I <3 my blue Pyrex…
And then bake for about 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick entered into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Perhaps go make your own Slip-n-Slide with a trash bag while your masterpiece bakes.
Once your creation is done cooking, remove from pan & let cool on a wire rack. Then slice for nommage.
The outside has a nice “crust” to it, while the inside is super moist and a bit dense, almost like a brownie.
Five stars, Aunt Donna! Two thumbs Way Up!
NutriFacts: (makes 12 servings—cut into 6 thick slices, then make one cut down the middle to divide into 12)
Calories 181.6
Total Fat 4.8 g
Saturated Fat 2.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Cholesterol 34.2 mg
Sodium 214.6 mg
Potassium 192.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 38.2 g
Dietary Fiber 2.1 g
Sugars 26.4 g
Protein 3.4 g
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