Oh it's hump day, so why not post a treat.

My momma has a bit of a sweet tooth and I usually make some form or another of a cake for her birthday every year. I started doing this when I was around 13 years old or so- back then,  this meant making a box of Betty Crocker and slapping some canned frosting on top.

Over the years as I actually learned how to bake properly, the treats have become better quality and have steered in a healthier direction. However, my mom is kind of like a kid in that I have to literally sneak vegetables into her food. I’ll get her a green juice as a snack that heavily relies on apple and pear to sweeten it, but shove some kale and spinach in there as well.

She loves the bread loaves I make for her, so this year for her birthday I made a Chocolate Banana Zucchini Walnut Bread, utilizing the ends of summer squash season.

This bread has mostly healthier components to it, but you have to call a spade a spade- I'm not telling my clients to eat anything like this for breakfast- but come on, it’s my mom's birthday after all.

If you are just learning how to bake or are a novice baker, I highly recommend starting out with breads- these guys are hard to truly mess up. The most important thing to do is not overmix the batter when combining all ingredients- this will result in tough, dry bread.  

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Walnut Bread

*makes a 8.5" x 4.5" loaf

Ingredients

1 large or 1.5 medium Zucchini, grated & patted dry
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 Large Eggs, room temp.
1/2 cup Raw Coconut Sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce
1 cup Einkorn flour
1/2 cup Buckwheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa
1  tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup Walnut pieces

Special tools needed:

Microplane Zucchini grater
Whisk (fork will do if you don’t have a whisk)

Recipe

1.     Preheat oven to 365ºF and lightly grease bread loaf pan with EVOO spray, a swipe of butter or whatever else you have on hand.

2. In a small bowl, combine flours, cocoa, baking soda & powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine applesauce, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, and banana. Whisk in both eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Add zucchini and mix until even.

4. In 3 parts, gently stir in flour mixture. Be careful to not over mix- just fold in until combined.

5. Gently fold in chocolate chips and walnut pieces, reserving a few of each to top the loaf.

6. Pour batter into prepped loaf pan, sprinkle topping, and pop into the oven for about 45-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean nary a few breadcrumbs. 

7. Remove from oven, let it cool for about 15 minutes in the pan, then you can transfer it to a wire rack until completely cooled. Slice, serve, and don't eat it all!