Chocolate Zucchini Cake Bars

This is what I was talking about when I said a success the other day. Granted it was supposed to be brownies but due to changes made, it turned around. It seems that everybody had a large abundance of zucchini this summer. It was only the last week that it occurred around here. Battles with rhubarb, peaches (40 lbs of them), and raspberries have been where our forces remained.

 

This thing is very easy to inhale. Literally. One minute you are watching 90210, have a piece, watching Gossip Girl, have a piece, Glee?, have a piece, True Blood reruns why not?, have a piece, Salvator brothers looking sexy, have a piece. Get the trend? It's like chocolate cake air. But it is not light and fluffy. This arguement is going nowhere.

On another note, isn't my son adorable? I named him Conan. This little devil has been on my mind for over a year. Since everyone ignored my wishes, last Monday night at approximately 11 o'clock, my baby and I met. And yes, it he is named after my beloved. For more on that see here.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake Bars

Adapted from the Peas

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 7/8 cups flour

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla extract*

2 tsp kosher salt

6 tbsp cocoa

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp instant coffee

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a sheet pan with baking spray or butter and flour it up. In a small bowl, heat the milk and coffee together in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Mix until the coffee is dissolved. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Pour in the oil and combine until it looks like moist sand. Add the vanilla, salt, cocoa and baking soda till it is evenly distributed. Add the zucchini and stir till evenly distributed as well. Stir in the coffee mix till fully combined. Pour the mix into the prepared pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until just set in the middle. Cut and dig in! Makes about 40 bars.

* I actually used chocolate extract. Don't know if it had a huge impact, vanilla is great. 

Zucchini Bread Debate

One thing I enjoy is finding a great recipe. As if that weren't obvious from having a food blog. I was on the search for a zucchini bread recipe in this case. Having read about zucchini bread but never actually tasting it, I went out and tried four different varieties. These were: two chocolate and two spice varieties. The first was called chocolate chip zucchini bread from Pinch My Salt. The second was double chocolate zucchini bread from Baking Bites. The third was zucchini sweet potato bread from Joy the Baker. The fourth was straight up called zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen. 

So here is the break down of each recipe. This little trial began at around ten o'clock at night. It was late and I was home alone and bored so zucchini bread tests! Therefore I tried the bread the next morning not immediately. They had about 6 hours to cool and then they were tested. 

First up is the chocolate chip zucchini bread. This is a very moist (yes, that word again) bread. It was the softest of the bunch I would say. It held together when it was sliced instead of crumbling. The chocolate chips were a great addition for flavour because the bread didn't have a very strong chocolate flavour on its own. The cinnamon in the recipe came through which was nice. This was great but in terms of chocolate bread, it was not the richest. But, like I said, I really liked it. I hear it is low fat too.

This bread right here was the double chocolate zucchini bread and boy was it chocolatey! It was so rich. While it was not as moist as the first, it was still moist. It sliced nicely. The tops of loafs are always the greatest and this was great. Very rich and nice top. 

This is the first of the two spice breads. On my notes for this it says immediately "moist!". I slightly undercooked this which may have been why but I think it is from the zucchini and sweet potato. It crumbled slightly when it was sliced but that could have been because it was undercooked. Despite the crumbling, no complaints. It had a nice crunch from the pecans and the cranberries added to the moistness and bit of tartness. It is kind of pumpkin pie like with the spices, which I love. I love pumpkin pie! Getting off topic. All in all, this is a great one because it is so well rounded and tons of different flavours.

Last, but not least, is the other spice bread. This one was my Mum and Dad's favourite. It was not as moist as the others but keep in mind just how moist all the others were. Also, I slightly overcooked it I think by a few minutes. They did not care clearly. This one had milder spices and the nuts were not as distinct. Also the raisins added a greater sweetness which was great. The nuts weren't as distinct but still provided a soft crunch.

The final verdict? Out of the two chocolate loafs, I would have to say the second is the richest. I really liked them both but in terms of chocolate, that one completely overpowered the other. Out of the two spice loafs, I really like the first but my family loved the second. The first my favourite texture. the second was the greatest chocolate loaf. The third was something different then I have ever made. And the last was nice spice bread, it was basically a less moist version of my Mum's date loaf.

Here are the recipes:

1. Chocolate chip zucchini bread from Pinch my Salt

2. Double chocolate zucchini bread from Baking Bites

3. Sweet potato zucchini bread from Joy the Baker

4. Zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen*

*I used pecans and raisins because I had already used walnuts and cranberries in the Joy the Baker recipe and chocolate chips in the first two.