A Tale of Two Zucchini Breads: Chocolate Zucchini Bread & Yogurt Zucchini Bread

I don’t normally bake (because it’s easier if we just don’t have dessert temptations in the house), but my stomach is very happy that I’ve decimated my flour inventory lately. I LOVE zucchini bread and found two different types of recipes that I wanted to try – one is made with chocolate while the other is made with Greek yogurt.

A medium-sized zucchini translates into about 1-1 1/4 cup of shredded zucchini

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Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This recipe can be useful for anyone who needs to be eating a diet that is low-iodine (adapted from Low-Iodine Cookbook) or low-dairy. It also uses cacao powder instead of chocolate chips or sweetened cocoa, so it is a bit healthier than you would think as well.

I combined the dry ingredients (flour, cacao powder, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder) and the wet ingredients (sugar, egg whites, oil, water, pure vanilla extract) with the zucchini in separate bowls and gave them a good mix first. If you don’t have a sifter for the dry ingredients, just try to break up any clumps you see so the bread can rise more evenly.

The cacao powder gives the dry ingredients a nice brown color while the use of just egg whites makes the wet ingredients really show the vibrant green of the zucchini

After each bowl is well-mixed, I dumped the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (since the dry mixture was in the bigger bowl) and mixed until combined into a nice chocolately looking goop.

I always forget how long zucchini bread takes to bake (it’s a thick one!), so had to wait patiently for 55 minutes until it was done.

*If making for a low-iodine diet, make sure you check your ingredients and verify that they are indeed iodine-free

 

Yogurt Zucchini Bread

Adapted from this lovely recipe, I left the walnuts out of this one because my friend is allergic to them, but normally will throw in some extra by sprinkling some on top for a nice crunch.

The process for this one is basically the same, just with different ingredients. I combined the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) and the wet ingredients (sugar, eggs, oil, Greek yogurt) with the zucchini in separate bowls and mixed well.

Compared to the chocolate zucchini bread, this the yogurt zucchini bread has a bit more substance because it has more flour and also because of the yogurt. The use of whole eggs instead of only egg whites gives the wet ingredients a more yellow tint that masks the vibrant green from the zucchini

Combining the ingredients together is one of my favorites part of baking because you really get to see everything come together and it’s like the moment of truth to see whether the texture is right, the ratio of wet to dry ingredients is right, etc.

A 55 minute wait was well worth it for this hunk of goodness to come out of the oven!

Voilà!

The chocolate zucchini bread and yogurt zucchini bread side-by-side. The yogurt (right) one definitely wins the height – both physical and calorie amount – contest.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Adapted from recipe found in ThyCa Low-Iodine Cookbook

Servings: 1 8x4in loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar (if you like sweeter bread, use an extra 1/4 cup)
• 2 egg whites
• 1/6 cup canola oil
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Lightly oil and flour a 4×8 in loaf pan
3. Sift/mix flour, cacao powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl
4. Mix together sugar, egg whites, oil, water, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl
5. Add zucchini to bowl with wet ingredients and mix to combine
6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until moistened
7. Pour mixture into loaf pan and even out top if necessary
8. Bake at 350°F for 50-55 minutes until bread has risen and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean
9. Let cool in pan, then remove by inserting a butter knife on the side between the bread and the pan and loosening all the edges
10. Cut as big of a slice as you want and nom nom nom!

Estimated Nutritional Information (1 loaf): 1,778 calories; 40.1g fat; 0mg cholesterol; 929mg sodium; 874mg potassium; 329g carbs; 29.6g protein

 

Yogurt Zucchini Bread

Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine

Servings: 1 8x4in loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I use Oikos Zero brand for no sugar added)
• 1 1/4 cup grated zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Lightly oil and flour a 4×8 in loaf pan
3. Sift/mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large mixing bowl
4. Mix together sugar, eggs, oil, and yogurt in a medium mixing bowl and then add zucchini
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until moistened
6. Pour mixture into loaf pan and even out top if necessary
7. Bake at 350°F for ~50-55 minutes until bread has risen and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean
8. Let cool in pan, then remove by inserting a butter knife on the side between the bread and the pan and loosening all the edges
9. Cut as big of a slice you want and nom nom nom!

Estimated Nutritional Information (1 loaf): 2,708 calories; 123g fat; 372.5mg cholesterol; 1,391mg sodium; 1,637mg potassium; 351.6g carbs; 50.7g protein

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