Chocolate Hazelnut Zucchini Bread

I try to make at least one zucchini bread every zucchini season. What usually ends up happening is I buy what I think is a lot of zucchini expecting to use some of it for a zucchini bread, but then I get busy and by the end of the week I've eaten all the zucchini and have none left to bake with! This week I decided that it was time to ensure that I got to the zucchini for baking before it was all eaten up. I found a recipe for zucchini bread with walnut oil. I didn't have any walnut oil, but I did have some hazelnut oil leftover from a recipe that I need to use and so this was perfect choice. With some added chopped hazelnuts and dark chocolate chunks studding the batter, this was the a wonderful breakfast treat for the week, and something I would make over and over again. 

The recipe is simple, and I made just a few changes to suit my needs. I cut the sugar in half because I prefer my morning treats be less sweet, and then I replaced half of the oil with yogurt to lighten it up, a bit but still maintain moisture and flavor. It baked up beautifully and full of flavor. The hazelnut oil scented the batter just enough, and the addition of chopped hazelnuts really helped this flavor shine. I ended up baking it for only about 40 minutes, as opposed to the 55 minutes originally called for, and was happy with that. Overall a perfect breakfast treat for zucchini season!

Chocolate Hazelnut Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Dishing Up the Dirt
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) hazelnut oil
• 1/4 cup (60 grams) plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup (84 grams) honey
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (160 grams) coarsely grated zucchini - about 1 medium-sized zucchini
• 3/4 cup (90 grams) all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (90 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup coarsly chopped ha
• Turbinado sugar, for topping (optional)

Directions
Place an oven rack in the middle position of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 350F. In a large bowl, beat together the oil and honey. Stir in the eggs, vanilla and zucchini. Mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (being careful to not over-mix) and add the chocolate chips. and hazelnuts. 

Pour the batter into a lightly greased 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with the turbinado sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool the zucchini bread in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 10 slices
Approximate Nutrition: 223 calories/slice

Zucchini Cardamom Bread

Every year when I see the mounds of zucchini at the farmers market I have good intentions about using it in plenty of baked goods over the weeks. I've found in the past however, I end up just roasting it all up and eating it before it makes its way into anything sweet. This year I told myself that I had to do some baking. And then when I was at the zucchini stall I picked up how much zucchini I thought I would want for the week, and then I bought twice as much! No going back, no choice but to bake!

One of the first things I set out to make was a nice zucchini bread. When I saw a recipe for cardamom zucchini bread (with chocolate!) it sounded like a delightful twist on a traditional bread so I went for it. The cardamom adds a lovely floral note to the bread. The 1 teaspoon called for in this recipe is definitely a hefty amount of cardamom, so if you're not a huge cardamom fan, or you're not sure if you like cardamom, you can always add half the amount to start and see how it goes. But I recommend giving it a try. The cardamom mixed with the dark chocolate chunks is a wonderful combination!

This recipe has a good 1.5-2 cups zucchini (doesn't have to be exact), and is sweetened with a touch of honey. I'm always looking to cut back on the amount of sugar in my diet, so I halved the amount of honey in this recipe and thought it turned out just fine. I didn't find it compromised the quality of the finished product, but if you're not sure if the 1/4 cup of honey will be enough, go ahead and use 1/2 cup honey.

I also swapped out 1/2 cup of the flour for 1/2 cup oat flour because I love oats in my bread, and love how healthy they are. If you don't have any oat flour you can use all wheat flour. Finally, I replaced some of the oil in the original recipe with Greek yogurt. I always have Greek yogurt on hand, and I love baking with it. You can use sour cream instead, or you can just use the full 1/2 cup of oil instead and skip the yogurt. I made all these little changes for myself based on what I like, but you can certainly make it your own based on what you like. It may change the final product slightly, but in the end I'm sure whatever you come up with will be perfectly edible! 

Zucchini Cardamom Bread
Adapted from Dishing up the Dirt
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) olive oil
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup (85 grams) honey
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (about 1 medium-sized zucchini, or 1/2 of a large zucchini)
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) oat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup dark chocolate (I used 40 grams)
• A few hefty pinches of turbinado sugar for topping

Directions
Place an oven rack in the middle position of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, yogurt, honey eggs and vanilla, Stir in the zucchini. Mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (being careful to not over-mix) adding in the chocolate partway through the mixing. 

Pour the batter into a lightly greased 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with the turbinado sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Cool the zucchini bread in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yields: 1 loaf