You Got Chocolate on My Zucchini

Remember those commercials for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups?  Two people, one eating a jar of peanut butter while walking down the street and the other eating a chocolate bar, would collide.  One would exclaim, "You got peanut butter on my chocolate!"  The other would exclaim, "You got chocolate on my peanut butter!"  They'd take a bite to try the combination, and the voice-over would say, "Two great tastes that taste great together."  And they lived happily ever after...

I thought of that advertisement as I mixed up this bread.  Chocolate and zucchini...what a combination.  I like the summer bounty of zucchini, and I absolutely love chocolate.  You don't normally think about chocolate with your vegetables (or at least I think most people do not - I think of chocolate with everything), but this just works.  Add a touch of cinnamon, and you've really got something to write home about.  Well, I didn't write home about it, I'm writing about it here.  But my folks back home in Texas read this blog, so you get what I mean....

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 loaf

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped pecans (or another preferred nut)
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

Mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.

Beat eggs, and add sugar and oil until well-mixed.  Stir into dry mix.

Add grated zucchini.  I prefer it with the peel on because I like to see flecks of green in the bread.

Then stir in chopped pecans and chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan.  Bake for about an hour or until a tester comes out clean.

Cool in pans for about 15 minutes or so, then overturn onto a rack to finish cooling.

The bread keeps for 2 - 3 days in an airtight container depending on the humidity.  Any longer than that and it gets a bit too mushy.