I was tired of my same old zucchini bread recipe. I was in the mood for one with a little bit of chocolate and some nuts, and so I thought I would browse the web and find a new one. Usually when I make quick bread, I do at least six loaves because I typically give several to my married children, and my husband can eat almost an entire loaf in one sitting. Now I understand they are called quick breads because there is no rising involved, but there is nothing quick when you have to grate zucchini, chop nuts, grind wheat, and zest an orange, to say nothing about the clean-up. Any how, I didn’t want to do six loaves and nobody like them. Since I was grating zucchini and grinding wheat any way, I did six loaves of my tried and true recipe, and two loaves of the experimental bread.
* One daughter said there was too much going on, and if I left out the nuts, it would be good.
* Another daughter liked the new bread just how it was. Well, maybe less chocolate chips.* My husband and another daughter said they definitely liked the old recipe better.
* One son won’t try anything new, and my other son will eat anything but bananas and peanut butter.
* I like them both, and my mood will determine which one I will choose to make next time.
Chocolate Chip Orange Zucchini Bread
3 eggs 2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups hard white wheat flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups zucchini 1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips 1 tablespoon orange zest
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, and zucchini. Blend in sifted ingredients. Stir in nuts, chips, and orange rind. Turn batter into two greased loaf pans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until bread tests done. Remove loaves from pans, and cool.
