Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

My dad and I went to the farmers market a couple of weekends ago, and ever since then, I've been on a mission to find the perfect zucchini bread recipe. I'm not the biggest fan of zucchini on it's own, but seeing all the fresh/in season zucchini at the farmers market brought me back to when my mom just to make zucchini bread with zucchini from our backyard garden. After a couple weeks of searching, and two failed attempts, I'm here to share with you the very best, you-can't-tell-it's-healthy zucchini bread. Ever.I feel like I'm a broken record in saying "this is the best" zucchini bread I've ever had, because I say that about everything I share with you guys, but I only take the time to blog and share the best recipes here so I feel justified in saying it! And truly, this is the BEST. It's moist, (I know, I despise this word too, but when referring to zucchini bread, it's a good thing so bare with me!) it's dense, it's chocolatey but not too sweet, it's everything you could ever want in a zucchini bread! And if the zucchini thing makes you uneasy, trust me when I say you cannot taste it one single bit.I will preface by saying this recipe took me probably two minutes longer to make than my usual super quick and easy recipes, and that is solely because of the fact that I had to take those extra two minutes to grate the zucchini. However I feel like that's kind of a goes-without-saying step when you're contemplating making zucchini bread. Nonetheless, it was still incredibly quick and easy, and I guarantee you have everything you need on the ingredients list already!I also want to mention that cannot take any credit for this recipe because I did not create it, however Krista, from Joyful Healthy Eats did, and is an absolute genius. If you're ever looking for a healthy version of your favorite baked treats or you just need a little recipe inspiration, scroll through her website for two seconds and tell me you don't have the urge to bake something. She is amazing and I've made so many of her recipes, and loved every single one! And nothing of hers ever tastes healthy ... a win win for everyone.The recipe is below - mine looks slightly different than Krista's because I swapped/omitted just a few things, but click here for her exact recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup raw honey
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1¼ cup grated zucchini (about 1½ zucchinis)
• ¾ cup Enjoy Life mini chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 8x8 loaf pan by greasing the bottom and sides (you can grease with coconut oil, butter, or PAM cooking spray) Lightly dust with flour and shake out excess flour.
3. In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Whisk together.
4. In a large bowl, add honey, unsweetened applesauce, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until smooth.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until everything is combined.
6. Fold in the zucchini, chocolate chip, and walnuts.
7. Add the batter to prepared loaf pan.
8. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Serve.

Macros - 1/10th of a loaf:

• 170 calories
• 7.7g of fat
• 25g of carbs
• 3g of protein

This recipe has good fats from the coconut oil, good carbs from the whole wheat flour and the natural sugar form the honey will give you lots of energy, making it the perfect early morning pick me up, or even pre workout snack! I plan on eating this for breakfast for the foreseeable future, as in until Christmas. Enjoy!XO, A