I love desserts… I would eat them for breakfast, lunch & dinner if I had my way. But when I started eating in a more traditional/nourishing fashion I cut a lot of desserts out of my life. So now when I do make something sweet, I at least try to make it a little better for me. The recipe below is one I grew up on when zucchini started to take over our kitchen in the summer. I posted the original recipe so you can make it that way if you’d like but my “healthy” version turned out pretty well so you could try it my way too! ;)
A perfect breakfast with coffee!
{Recipe} Chocolate Zucchini Cake
(From ‘The Little Red Schoolhouse Country Cookbook’)
1/2 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk (add 1 tsp lemon juice to milk and let stand 5 minutes)
2-1/2 cups flour
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/3 – 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Cream butter, oil and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and sour milk; beat well. Mix dry ingredients and add to first mixture; beat well. Stir in zucchini. Spoon batter into greased and floured 9×13″ pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 325* for 40-45 minutes or until done.
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For my “healthy” version I did the following:
{Recipe} Soaked Chocolate Zucchini Cake
1/2 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup whole milk yogurt or sour milk
2-1/2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
Mix these together with your hands in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let them “soak” overnight or up to 24 hours.
1/4 cup coconut or olive oil
1 cup honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cups shredded zucchini
Dark chocolate chips
Add all of the ingredients, except the zucchini and chocolate chips, to the bowl with the flour mixture. Use your hands to mix everything together well. Some of the flour will be in little dry clumps so rub them in your fingers to break them up. Once mixed well stir in the zucchini and pour into a buttered 9×13″ pan. Spread evenly and sprinkle on chocolate chips. Bake in a 300* oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let me know if you try it out!
