Eggless Egg-free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake and/or Bread

Life is Good: I'm baking again!

Need a sure-thing to take to a friend with a new baby, a family that is grieving, to share over coffee & a chat? 

This recipe does not dissappoint. I got it from my friend, Merie, and adjusted it to make it eggless for our family's needs. You can make it as a cake or a bread, chocolate chips or chocolate chocolate chips, all with the same results...YUM!

Eggless Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

Ingredients:

2 C flour

2 C sugar

3/4 C cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

mixture of 3/4 applesauce and 1/2 T baking powder (mixed together in a separate bowl until foamy)

3/4 C canola

3/4 C buttermilk (I have often used milk and it has turned out well)

3 C grated zucchini

3/4 C chocolate chips or chunks (My friend Merie used a 1/2 bag rather than measure them)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease and flour two loaf pans.

3. Mix applesauce and baking soda together in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

5. Add applesauce mixture plus oil and buttermilk into large bowl of dry ingredients and mix well.

6. Mix in zucchini and then chocolate chips.

7. Pour into pans (half of batter in each) and bake. In my oven, this recipe is done after about 45 minutes. However, all ovens are different, so I suggest that you start checking the middle of the loaf with a toothpick or cake tester after 38-40 minutes.

Notes:

I typically leave the cocoa powder out of the recipe when I make this bread for my kids since they are allergic to nuts. Most cocoa powders are processed in facilities where nuts are present. If I add cocoa, I have to grind Enjoy Life chocolate chunks into a powder. Sometimes I feel like going through the extra step and sometimes...I'm lazy! The absence of cocoa powder doesn't affect how delicious it is. However, the addition of cocoa powder kind of "takes the flavor over the edge", if you will, and makes the bread much, much more rich. Try it both ways and see what you think!

The original recipe calls for 1 tsp of cinnamon, but it makes for a very obvious cinnamon taste and I prefer it more subtle, especially when leaving out the cocoa powder.

This recipe was originally a cake made with eggs that my friend, Merie, who happens to be a marvelous and adventurous cook, posted on Facebook a few years ago. (Thank you, Merie!) I adapted it to be eggless and the result was more of a bread than a cake, so I bake it in loaf pans, but if you want to try it in a cake pan, go for it! I made it as a cake for our Little Kid's birthday cake a couple of years ago and everyone loved it.

Here is the Chocolate Chunk Zucchini bread version (I used Enjoy Life chocolate chunks.)