Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I love giving my kids this recipe because it's full of healthy stuff and my kids love it because it has chocolate chips in it!! My good friend visited and even her picky kids ate this! They called it "chocolate bread".  These are more work than some of the other muffins so make a double batch and freeze some for lunches or quick breakfasts or snacks!

Wet Ingredients:
2 cups zucchini, shredded and drained of extra liquid (I don't peel mine but you can if you want)
1 cup carrot, shredded and drained of extra liquid
2 eggs
2 small bananas, smushed
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup sugar (adjust up or down to preference)

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups white wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
chocolate chips, to preference

Ingredients:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Prepare your muffin or loaf pan by spraying, butter and flouring or using liners.  Then I chop my zucchini, put it in the food processor, and pulse until small pieces.  I then squeeze it out with a cheese cloth and repeat with the carrots (the carrots hold a lot less water so I do them separately).  Do squeeze out the water so you get fluffy muffins or loaves.  Then I put the zucchini and carrots in a bowl and combine with the rest of the wet ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (we don't add the chocolate chips until the end - my kids like to put them in each well).  Combine the two by hand so as not to overmix with a mixer and pour the batter into your prepared pan.  For muffins these took about 18 minutes but check for doneness with a cake tester which should come out clean (minus the chocolate!) once they are cooked.

Adapted from:  https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/incredible-carrot-zucchini-muffins-368242#activity-feed

Banana Carrot Bread

Banana Carrot Bread

My kids love these for breakfast (add peanut butter and a side of fruit), plain as a snack or with a little butter on them straight from the oven! They are nut free so I can send to school as a guilt-free, safe for the classroom healthy snack.  There are always complaints when the last one is gone!

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups white wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Other:
2 medium bananas, ripe
2 cups grated carrots (I buy shredded and throw half to 3/4 of the bag without measuring into the food processor.  Whatever that makes is what I add to the recipe).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray/butter and flour/or use liners to prepare a loaf or muffin pan.

Whisk dry ingredients together: flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.

In another large bowl whisk together the yogurt and honey. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and stir to combine.  Add 1 banana and stir until combined.  Continue alternating, ending on the flour mixture.  Then add grated carrots and finish stirring with a wood spoon.

Cook for 15 minutes for mini-loaves - checking for doneness with a tester until it comes out clean. Cooking time can depend on the oven.

I have much better luck with this bread as muffins or mini loaves than as large loaves (the inside tends not to fully cook).  For mini loaves these took about 15 minutes - but check yours after 12 and every few minutes for doneness.  A full loaf takes almost an hour.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for several minutes before removing to finish cooling directly on a cooling rack.  These can be kept at room temperature for several days or frozen and defrosted later.

Adapted from: https://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/carrot-banana-bread/