Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I've had this recipe from Pinch My Salt bookmarked for a while. The other day matt brought in this HUGE zucchini that was hiding in the garden. It was seriously the biggest zucchini i've ever seen!! It probably weighed like 3 lbs. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do it! (well..about 1/2 of it since the thing was so huge!) This recipe is originally from Cooking Light and uses applesauce in place of butter. It was amazing! I seriously LOVED this stuff! As did Matt and Rylee. They're so moist and fluffy. I made them right before dinner and ended up eating it for dinner. And dessert. And as a snack throughout the rest of the evening. I also was a huge fan of using a mini muffin pan instead of a loaf pan. It cooked sooo much faster and there's no slicing involved. And they're just cute as little muffins. Since I still have half of the monster left in my fridge I think I might make another batch since yesterday's is about gone =\

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3/4 C. sugar

3 T. vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 C. applesauce

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 T. unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 C. finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)

1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips also work well)

cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.2. Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed until well blended. Stir in applesauce.3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into a 9×5-inch loaf pan (or mini muffin pan) coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour (or about 15 min. if using mini muffin pan) or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving is one slice) (I got 36 with mini muffin pan)
Nutrition info (per slice): Calories: 161; Fat 5.1 grams; Protein: 2.9 grams; Carb: 27.3 grams; Fiber: 1.4 g; Chol: 27 mg; Sodium: 145 mg