The means to the end
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:21PM 
If you, like me, were the recent recipient of an armload of blue-ribbon-at-the-county-fair-worthy summer squash, then most certainly you are, like me, currently thinking yourself spectacularly spoiled.
But then, if you're one of those industrious types that grows their own squash, then maybe you're looking for a way to use up the proliferous buggers.
In either case, if need be, I may have the means to the end of your zucchini supply, specifically by way of chocolate olive oil zucchini bread.
I had some difficulty with this bread, not in its making but in its naming, as while the sum of the parts is what we're all here for, each of those parts has an indespensible role to play.
I put the chocolate first, because one glance at this quick bread and there's no mistaking the presence of cocoa. Chopped semisweet chocolate mollifies the tobacco-darkness of that cocoa powder; the irregular shards melt into the bread so that here and there within the crumb are damp pockets of sweetness.
The olive oil is the surprise, tasting resiny and somehow green. The one I used makes me think of lemons and fields of newly-mown hay, which feels right for something you're baking at summer's height.
The zucchini is, of course the main event, and so gets the glory of the final fanfare. There's a full four cups of it in the recipe, divided between two loaves. The pale shreds weave through the batter, so the resulting breads are gratifyingly bulging with bumps and crags, shot through and through with specks of green. It's a bread that does not pretend to be anything other than what it is, and that's an (albeit tasty) conveyance for terrific quantities of summer squash.
All that said, I could have mentioned the walnuts. They're toasted, so that their fatty waxiness is made snappy and their aromatic bitterness is amplified. Along with the olive oil you've got a winner of a combination, so much so that the nuts were this close to headline status.
The buttermilk too, it could have been up there in lights, because this bread would be so much less without the spring in the crumb - the crumb has weight without being weighed down, and the buttermilk's to thank for that. It steers the bread away from residence in the land of cake and clears the way for having some for breakfast. Which I did already. Twice.
Exceptional with coffee, this bread's not so much suited to a fork, but instead the sort you use your fingers to break chunks off a slice, to be eaten in between paragraphs as you read the paper.
There's what's left of a loaf on the counter and it's my plan for tomorrow's breakfast - let's go for three times being the charm.
If you'd like, I'll set an extra place.
Chocolate olive oil zucchini bread
Adapted from a variety of sources. The method for this bread is the standard muffin or quick bread style; wet ingredients stirred briefly into the dry. No mixer required, with two bowls and a spoon and you're set for this one.
Ingredients
Softened butter, for pans
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups fine-grained turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups shredded zucchini, see note
Preheat an oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pans with softened butter. Use a length of parchment to line the bottom and long sides of the pan, forming a sling, and lightly butter the parchment as well. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the chopped walnuts and chocolate. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil and buttermilk. Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Stir in the zucchini.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stir until combined, taking care not over mix. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and bake, rotating once, until a cake tester inserted into the loaf comes out almost clean, which should be around 50 minutes. Cool loaves in their pans on a rack for 20 minutes, then grasp the edges of the parchment to ease the bread out.
If you can wait long enough to let them cool to room temperature before slicing, then well done. But if you can't wait, and cut the loaves into ragged pieces while still warm, then I can't say I blame you.
Makes 2 loaves.
Notes:
- For the zucchini, I use the grating attachment on my food processor, taking care not to press down on the feed tube plunger while the machine is running - this gives a light, feathery shredding. Since we want a bread that is damp but not sodden, I sprinkle the emerald-tipped strands across a (lint-free) kitchen towel, then place another atop, patting it down gently. After a few minutes the towels will have absorbed some of the excess liquid and the zucchini is left crisp and ready to go.
- If olive oil is not your thing, then it can be replaced by an equal amount of neutral oil or melted butter. With the latter, the bread will be denser and, as it lacks the mitigating edge of olive oil, it will taste sweeter as well.
Reader Comments (49)
I'll take the extra plate, please. This looks just lovely - chocolate loaves and brownies are my favourite ways to take care of excess zucchini. Loaves like this don't last long on the countertop! perhaps I'll bake one tonight..
oh my. this looks amazing. enjoy your breakfast tomorrow!
Beautiful, I have zucchini in the fridge and will be baking this today!
Thanks for the recipe and inspiration, one can never have too many delicious zucchini recipes.
Yes, a plate here as well, but in absence of that possibility, a printing of this recipe is a MUST.
Oh zucchini, you can't hide from me now.
I'm one of those industrious types with a decent zucchini haul this summer, and making chocolate zucchini bread is definitely a must! The addition of olive oil and walnuts is right up my alley too.
a-mazing! i have a great recipe for zucchini cornbread that i want to make, but now my mind is on sweet :).
This looks lovely. And in many ways it's similar to my new top favorite zucchini bread---an all whole wheat affair with a crusty coconut topping, yum.
It's too bad my zucchini plants succumbed to the dread bore beetle.
It is such a great recipe.
Really beautiful. Now this is a loaf I could escape with. I'd cut a few thick slices and have ot with a pot of tea. Specialty. Tomorrow would be perfect.
This looks so incredibly good. Do you think halving each ingredient to make just one loaf would work?
I always make quick breads for breakfast and this looks like a great change to my banana bread routine. What a great way to use the summer's zucchini bounty! I've been thinking of making a zucchini bread for years but the chocolate addition in yours has just convinced me.
Do you think that the recipe could be turned into muffins without too much ill-effect? Also, we are a nut free household, would leaving out the walnuts drastically change the outcome?
I've always been intrigued by chocolate cakes with a vegetable like zucchini or beetroot. This just looks so lovely, and the added vegetable makes it good for you, right?
perfect! I'd misplaced my besties chocolate zucchini bread recipe and I've two zucchinis in my fridge... this may be tonight's recipe (ready for tomorrow's breakfast :))
Woah. Yes please!
I have a 1 1/2 foot zuchinni in my garden that is begging for a date with an oven and chocolate. Thank you for this lovely recipe.
I have make zucchini cakes several times. One of them was a chocolate one, and the other was flavoured with lime and cardamon. Both of them were delicious. And something that astonished me as well as my family was the lack of the proper flavour of the zucchini. It just provides humidity and density and make a perfect cake.
Congratulations for your results.
Cheers!
sounds fabulous, definitely saved to my to make file
counting the moments till i can make this!
This is in the oven as we speak. Just wanted to comment that you forgot to mention the sugar in your instructions (I mixed it in with the dry ingredients). Otherwise, very intriguing recipe! I think it'll turn out great.
hey everybody!
julie, you're always welcome at our table. we'd love to see you here.
amanda jane, thank you!
i couldn't agree more, melissa.
you're welcome Kate, and watch out, zucchini.
Renee, i hope your harvest is a great one!
heather, i'd love to hear more about that cornbread. it's a weakness.
crusty coconut topping! that sounds delicious. is the recipe on your site, Jennifer Jo? so sorry to hear about the beetles.
thanks so much joy! and you too, MikeVFMK.
Denise, i've done that and works just fine. and muffins are a-okay Beth, you'll just have to adjust the cooking time. one thing about doneness - the melted chocolate can be misleading when testing the crumb, so feel for resistance as well as the skewer coming out (relatively) clean. and, for the nut-free, leaving out the walnuts will bring out the sweetness and nothing more, which is hardly a tragedy!
fingers crossed this doesn't disappoint, Marie! please report back if you give it a try.
Natashia, exactly my thought. and there's whole wheat flour too! it's practically a health food.
best of luck with it, jas!
i'll save you some, Heidi. it would be grand to catch up over some tea.
Heidi, that sounds a blue-ribbon-winner for certain!
cocidodesopa, cardamom and lime sounds brilliant.
you're so very welcome, trace.
hi to you, mav. i thought of your photo of the chocolate olive oil cake when considering this one. i think it's one you'd like.
Ilona, in error, eggs were repeated; thanks for pointing it out! it's been fixed.
Ohh this is lovely!! Chocolate and olive oil and zucchini - what an assorted combination!I wonder which taste would be predominant, would it be sweet? Wish I could grab a bite:)
I'm running an event at my place and would be honored to have this lovely Bread recipe there - why don't you come over for a peek sometime and take a look:) would be lovely!
Cheers,
Wit,wok&wisdom
i could do with a slice or two of this this morning.
This recipe is exactly what I've been searching for - beautiful post! I'm curious...did you use natural or Dutch-process cocoa?
Tara - just sampled the loaf and no I couldn't wait until they were cool. Soooo good warm with butter...One loaf for me, one for my Mom and her husband. Hope they enjoy as much as I am. Thank you.