We’re still in high zucchini season and the weather finally cooled down enough to make it bearable to use the oven again. It’s time to try out another heirloom recipe from my mom’s recipe box!

There is no name credited to this one, and I don’t remember if my mom ever actually made it or if it was just another unmade, hoarded recipe. My mom was a bit like a dragon hoarding recipes, but considering how many of us keep cookbooks we rarely (or never) use, who can say they aren’t recipe dragons?

This is a sweet bread that can be treated like a cake or a muffin, as I made in the photos here. The zucchini is virtually undetectable, so it can give “stealth” vitamins. And it’s very rich in vitamins, though the chocolate cake quality keeps it from being too healthy.

This makes a lot of batter, and you have options for different size baking pans. I was able to make 24 muffins and three mini loaves with one batch.

3 c. grated zucchini, juice drained and squeezed out
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. cocoa
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. buttermilk*
1/2 c. nuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Melt the chocolate and add the oil. If you have trouble getting chocolate chips to melt, keep stirring the oil and it will help the process.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate mixture.

In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together and add to the batter. Add buttermilk and stir until smooth. Mix in the zucchini.

Grease a baking pan or pans. Baking times:
Bundt pan – 1 hour
Regular-sized loaf pan – 1 hour
9 x 13″ pan – 45 minutes 
Mini loaf pans – ~35 minutes
Muffin pans – 25-30 minutes

*If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute 1 tsp. lemon juice and fill in the rest of the 1/3 c. with regular milk.