Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Walnuts

Chocolate zucchini bread served with ice cream

Zucchini and shredded apple mixed with dry ingredients

Chocolate zucchini bread with walnuts.

Got Zucchini?

If you've got a garden, you are probably drowning in zucchini by now as I am. That's why I keep coming up with more and more ways to use up this prolific little vegetable. What can be better than making a delicious and healthy chocolate loaf that can be served for breakfast with cream cheese or jam, served as a decadent dessert with a scoop of your favorite ice cream (the picture shows a scoop of mint chocolate hemp milk ice cream by Tempt) or just eat a slice as is.

In case you've missed them, check out my other zucchini posts:

- Vegan lemon basil pesto on raw zucchini spaghetti - April 20, 2009.

- Roasted baby squash on whole wheat pasta - June 1, 2009.

- Raw zucchini spaghetti and walnut meatballs - June 16, 2009.

- Zucchini corn pancakes with homemade organic low sugar plum jam - July 8, 2009.

- Raw zucchini soup topped with raw goat milk feta - July 20, 2009

Another Delicious Way to get Omega 3 Fatty Acids

My last several posts have talked about the importance of omega 3 fatty acids and how to get them. This vegetarian recipe provides 1/2 gram per slice! It gets its high omega 3 content, all ALA, mostly from the walnuts, but other ingredients contribute as well, like the omega 3 enriched organic eggs and olive oil. Even the zucchini contains some.

Dark Chocolate

Besides the omega 3 content, this recipe provides a double dose of flavonoid-rich chocolate, first with the raw cacao and then with the chunks of 70% dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is known to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by reducing blood pressure and preventing blood clots. The flavonoids in chocolate, called flavonols, also have strong antioxidant properties.

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Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Walnuts [makes 12 slices]

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 omega 3, organic cage free eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup Sucanat or organic cane sugar

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons raw cacao or unprocessed cocoa

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1 large zucchini)

3/4 cups shredded baking apple (about 1 medium apple)

1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts

2 tablespoons 70% dark chocolate mini chunks

I usually let the prepared mixture sit in the pan for 5 or 10 minutes before baking so you don't need to preheat the oven yet.

Grease the sides of an 8.5" x 4.5" pan and put parchment or wax paper on the bottom. In a bowl, beat together olive oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cacao. Add the zucchini and apple to the flour mixture and beat well with an electric beater until the zucchini and apple shreds are coated (see above picture). Beat in the egg mixture and then stir in the walnuts and chocolate chunks. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and let sit while the oven is heating up. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When heated, bake the loaf for 50 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully cut around the edges of the pan with a knife and turn over to remove the loaf from pan. Peel off the wax paper and put the loaf on a cooling rack.

Per serving: 190 calories, 9.8 g fat, 1.9 g saturated fat, 35.4 g cholesterol, 4.4 g protein, 22.7 g carbohydrates, 3.3 g fiber, 0.5 g omega 3 and 2.5 g omega 6 fatty acid.