This month the Blogger Improv Challenge features two of my favorite ingredients: Chocolate and Vanilla! Improv, if you are not in the know, is a foodie challenge hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Each month Kristen selects two ingredients for us to work some magic with.
Chocolate and Vanilla may be two of my favorite ingredients, but that doesn't mean it was easy to come up with a good idea for this challenge. Let's face it--adding a dash of vanilla extract isn't exactly creative. So, I took a quick inventory of what I had and went from there....
This part was easy...I have Costco sized vanilla in my cupboard....
This coconut milk had Vanilla written all over it...I had to use some...
White Chocolate Chips just plain look vanilla-y...and I'll need some Dark Chocolate, too.
Honestly, I didn't come up with an idea until yesterday, when I saw a post on Facebook from King Arthur Flour---a beautiful picture of Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. As luck would have it, someone at work brought in a rather large yellow zucchini that was now resting in my refrigerator. Don't you love it when worlds collide? I had vanilla stuff, I had chocolate stuff, I had zucchini, and had a recipe from King Arthur Flour...
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/3 cup cocoa
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini, gently pressed
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate candy bar
1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate candy bar
Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons vanilla flavored coconut milk (or regular milk)
Preheat the oven to 350°F; lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, honey, oil, sugar, and vanilla until smooth
.
Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, instant coffee, cocoa, and flour, mixing until well combined.
Stir in the zucchini, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake the bread for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the bread from the oven, and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack. Cool completely. Drizzle with glaze.
For the glaze, combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over bread.
The glaze is totally optional, but it sure does look nice.
So fudgy and good!
Now check out what everyone else is making with Chocolate and Vanilla!
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