Chocolate Summer Squash Bread

I've been getting a lot of summer squash in my farm box lately. I'm not complaining...I love it. Especially when sauteed up with some caramelized onions...super tasty. But I wanted to try something different, and specifically something that my children might eat. (Summer squash is definitely one that they turn their nose up at.) I figured they'd eat the squash if it was hidden in a baked good, so I started looked for Zucchini Bread recipes. Then I stumbled across this chocolate summer squash bread recipe and the search was over. I found the original recipe here. The first time I made it, I followed all directions, except I substituted white whole wheat flour for regular flour. You couldn't tell the difference at all.

Now, I have to be honest. The word "bread" is misleading. This isn't bread. It is cake. You will feel guilty eating this for breakfast. That didn't stop me from eating it then, but I did feel guilty. But if it makes you feel better, you can keep calling it "bread."

Even with the whole wheat flour, I was still feeling badly about the amount of oil and sugar that was in the bread/cake. So today, I added a few more chocolate chips for sweetness, took out 1/2 a cup of sugar, and substituted 1/2 a cup of apple sauce for some of the oil. Since I'm not eating the two side by side, it's too hard to tell if this one is as moist or as sweet. I can tell you that it's still delicious and will be great with vanilla ice cream, so I'll stick with this recipe since it makes me feel better.

2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 applesauce (I used unsweetened)
2 cups grated summer squash
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated summer squash, vanilla and chocolate; beat well.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir to blend. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean. Do not overbake.