Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
This is a moist delicious bread. More cake like then bread, but still good. I have made a few alterations from the original recipe that I altered even before I made it. Feel free to alter you specifications and post how they turn out.

This can be made dairy free by removing the chocolate chips or using dairy free chocolate.

3 eggs
1 cup olive oil (I cut that to 1/2 cup)
2 cups sugar (I cut that to 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup apple sauce (I add 3 individual pots of apple sauce, motts. It is not exact amount.)
2 tsp Vanilla
2 cups grated Zucchini
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I cut that to 1/2 cup, J does not like too much and I have also tried mini chocolate chips, which are not so obviously chunks of chocolate but still good.)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease to loaf pans or line with parchment (this make for easy removal.)

Combine eggs, olive oil, sugar, apple sauce and Vanilla. After combined add Zucchini and mix.

In a separate bowl combine all your dry ingredients.

Add dry ingredient to wet in three batches until just blended.

Divide batter between the two pans and place in oven for 1 hour. Test after 45 minutes. If toothpick comes out clean (try to avoid the chocolate chips, they will always look moist :)

Once done remove from oven and place on cooling racks for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Cool completely and enjoy. This recipe is really easy and tasty

Banana Bread

I have, on occasion, made a great recipe and lose it.  It is horrible to make something so good and not be able to make it again because I can't for the life of me follow the convoluted way that took me to the recipe.  So I am going to attempt again to start storing my recipes that I make or use and store them in a place that I can easily find.  

This recipe was found via the comments section at the front of the April issue of Canadian Living.  The comments section was filled with rave review of The Ultimate Banana Bread, so I had to try it.  It turned out beautifully crunchy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside.  I did add the chocolate chips because why would you leave them out, so delicious.  

I made this and it was so good that it didn't last long enough to get pictures.  I will post some pictures when I make it again. 

The Ultimate Banana Bread

Recipe from Canadian Living, March 2014

3 ripe Bananas, mashed

1/2 cup Buttermilk*

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 1/4 cups AP Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 cup Butter, softened

1 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (Optional, well, sort of :)

~Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9" x 5" loaf pan

~In a small bowl add bananas, buttermilk and baking soda and let sit for 5 minutes. *I used dried buttermilk powder and reconstituted it according to the directions since I never have buttermilk in the house and I am not one to pre plan for the things I want to bake, thusly buttermilk powder*

~In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt.  If adding chocolate chip, and why wouldn't you, this would be the time to add them to the flour mixture.

~In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.  You can do this with a mixer or a kitchenaid but I was too lazy to haul it out of the cupboard.

~To the butter/sugar mixture add the egg, vanilla and banana mixture.  Once the wet are all combined add the flour and chocolate chip mixture and mixture until just combined.

~Pour into the prepared pan.

~Bake 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan 10-15 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to completely cool.

Whistler baking

We are up at Whistler for New Years and in the condo we have a lovely kitchen (OK it's small but we have it stocked pretty well.)  I was in charge of making dinner so I made Dutch dill potato soup and baked some Hovis bread. 

I first was introduced to Hovis bread on Denman Island at the farm market.  On one of our visits I asked whether she gave out her recipe and she didn't used to but now is getting older so she happily gave it to me.

The nice thing about the bread is that it is a quick bread.  Which means that it takes very little prep and it is very hard to screw up.  Just mix all the dry ingredients and then add the buttermilk mix and then put in the pan and bake, easy peasy.

Hovis Bread
Makes 2 loaves, 12 slices each, 4 Points+ per slice.

5 cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups White Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

5 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Salt

1 litre buttermilk( not reconstituted from powder)

~Preheat oven 350°

~Mix all dry ingredients

~Add buttermilk and stir to combine.

~Divide dough between 2 loaf pans.

~Bake 1 hour.  Cover with aluminium foil if bread starts to brown too much.~let cool (if you can) then enjoy