Serves 8 to 10
ZUCCHINI TENDS TO COME OUT OF EVERY MIDWESTERNER’S EARS IN THE SUMMER-time, whether or not you actually grow it in your own garden. Because even if you’re not trying to unload some of your own crop onto someone else, there will always be neighbors or friends who are trying to unload theirs onto you. The good news is there are a million ways to use this mild vegetable, even in sweet baking. Zucchini bread is always a great way to chip away at any zucchini haul, and can even be relatively healthy with whole-grain flour and unrefined sugars.
But this is not that. This is a recipe that smothers that neutral, nutritious squash with loads of chocolate, nearly making it disappear in the loaf, and uses it only for the wonderful moisture it imparts. There’s plenty of supply for a more virtuous zucchini preparation tomorrow.
Nonstick cooking spray for pan
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons/ 175 g granulated sugar
½ cup/113 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1¼ cups/160 g unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
½ cup/48 g unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups/225 g loosely packed grated zucchini (about 1 medium-size)*
1 cup/170 g semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Spray a 9 × 5-inch/23 × 12.7 cm light-colored metal loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Place a large sieve over the bowl, and add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Sift the ingredients into the bowl. Whisk to combine—it will be quite thick. Switch to a flexible spatula and fold in the zucchini just until the batter begins to loosen a bit. Fold in three-quarters of the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted deeply into the center comes out mostly clean, with just a few moist crumbs, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before transferring the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely. Store any leftovers tightly wrapped for up to 3 days.
*Trim off the very ends, and use the large holes of a box grater.