Chocolate Zucchini [courgette] Bread

Recipes

Reprinted with permission from Dreena’s Kind Kitchen (BenBella Books); photo by Angela MacNeil Photography

Dreena says: “Because the wet ingredients are mixed in a blender, you don’t even need to grate the zucchini for this quick bread. And because it’s chocolate, no one will know it has any zukes in it!”

Makes 1 loaf of 12 muffins

Ingredients:

Note: One US cup = 237ml

• 1 ¾ cups (210g) whole-wheat flour
• ½ cup (60g) cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp (30g) coconut sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½tsp baking soda
• ¼tsp sea salt
• 2 cups thickly sliced zucchini (equivalent to two medium zucchinis)
• 1 cup sliced very ripe bananas (equivalent to two medium bananas)
• ¼cup (30g) hemp seeds
• ?cup (225g) pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup (60ml) water
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup (30g) dark chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/350F. Spray or wipe a loaf pan with a touch of oil and line with parchment paper, allowing some parchment to overhang the edges of the pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Put the courgette, bananas, hemp seeds and maple syrup in a blender and puree until smooth. Once well pureed, add the water and vanilla and blend again.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
5. Let the bread cool in the pan. Once cool, remove the loaf from the pan by lifting the edges of the parchment. Peel the paper away from the loaf, then slice.

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