Pinspiration in the Kitchen: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Welcome! Today I'm linking up to my first Pinspiration in the Kitchen hosted by my friend Carrie at Frugal Foodie Mama. I'm excited to see what everyone else links up because I'm in the mood to make more yummy treats!

I've been meaning to make zucchini bread for a few weeks now, but hadn't gotten around to it - until this week. I didn't feel like getting the bread maker out for this recipe {it was cool enough to turn the oven on, so I did just that}. But I should add that this could definitely be made in one. Check out this post for more bread maker recipes.

Here's the nitty gritty:

I used this pin from my "Yummm!" board on Pinterest as a starting point. The recipe can be found at Taste of Home here.I usually don't follow recipes exactly as they're written and this one was no exception. First, I halfed the recipe because I only wanted to make one loaf. With only two people in the house, a lot of recipes have to get cut down in my kitchen! I also used a combination of whole wheat flour and unbleached flour instead of the flours they suggested. Best part about this recipe? It's healthy but still tastes rich and chocolatey! The following is my version:

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/6 cup canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 cup shredded peeled zucchini
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• In a large bowl, beat the sugar, egg, applesauce, oil and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flours, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in zucchini. Transfer to 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
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• Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 12 slices
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• I gathered up the ingredients.

Mixed the wet stuff up.

Then mixed the dry stuff up.

Added the dry mix to the wet mix.

Look at the pretty color of the zucchini!

I added the zucchini to the rest, then put it in a loaf pan.

Baked it for 40-45 minutes, and this is what I got! Looks great, right?

Try it! Let me know how it turns out! And then hurry over to the link up to find even more delicious recipes to make {you can never have too many!} :)

Also linked up to The NODrama Mama and Mom's Test Kitchen!