Veggies + Dessert= Yummmmmmy

Of all the ways i've come to appreciate veggies, none will ever stand up to the addition of veggies in a dessert. Yes, that's right. Dessert. For those who think veggies do not belong in dessert obviously never had a delicious piece of carrot cake or zucchini bread.

Go ahead. Argue with me that there is no nutritional value of veggies in something loaded with sugar. I don't care. Let me eat cake!

Dilemma though. While those two delectable treats have two of my favorite veggies they are also LOADED with the bad for you stuff I am trying to avoid. So, what does one do when they want something so yummy and delicious but don't want the garbage that's usually in it? Experiment, of course.

Enter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.


With melted earth balance...oh my (BF thought it was real butter..ha!)


So moist, so delish. It was so good, we have polished off 3/4 of the loaf (in one day!). I was forced to put the second loaf in the freezer. So as not to be forced to make more.

Pretty delicate though. Might need to try another flax egg. Hmm.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Makes 2 loaves
Servings: Depends on how restrained you are ;)
1 c AP flour
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
2 c shredded zucchini
3 T flax eggs
1 c sugar
3/4 c brown rice syrup
4 T earth balance, melted
4 T canola oil
1/2 c applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients together (except sugar). Mix in chocolate chips. Set aside.

3. Using a box grater, shred enough zucchini to make 2 c (about 1 1/2 zucchini). Squeeze out any liquid and set aside.

4. In another bowl, mix together sugar, brown rice syrup & flax egg until incorporated. Add oil, earth balance, applesauce & mix until combined.

5. Add liquid to dry ingredients, stir to combine. Fold in shredded zucchini~be careful not to overmix.

6. Pour batter into loaf pans coated in cooking spray OR earth balance & flour. Bake for 45 min or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

*Ideally I would rather have used all whole wheat pastry flour, but I just barely had 1 c left.
*You could completely omit the white sugar and use all brown rice syrup or agave nectar.
*I think this would work equally as well with shredded carrots.
*Side Note: I was kinda surprised to see that dark chocolate has dairy. Whereas semi-sweet chocolate did not. Hmm.

Don't get me wrong, this probably isn't a whole lot better than any other zucchini bread as far as calories are concerned. But it's homemade. With better ingredients than I would find in those at the grocery store. And who else would use Ghirardelli chocolate chips in their zucchini bread?? :)