zucchini chocolate chip snack cake

So, I think by now we are all well-acquainted with the fact that I love putting vegetables in my desserts. Like, alot alot aloooot. Pumpkin holds a special place in my heart, but this IS my fourth recipe using zucchini, so I'd say that it's also high up on my list of favorites. This lovely cake is soft and delicious, moist, chocolatey, and best of all, quite healthy! Healthy dessert is the best dessert, in my opinion. Not to mention it's easy! Yesss! This dessert will definitely turn into your new favorite. It has four of the most important qualities I look for in a treat: 1) fast 2) easy 3) healthy 4) chocolate. True story. OH, and the best, best part? It was a recipe in a series called "Flat-Belly Diet." Yeah, I think you can eat this and feel awesome about it.

I found this recipe while on Pinterest, because I have this bad thing called a Pinterest addiction (just look at my 4000+ pins)... whoops. Anyways, I saw the picture and fell in love. It looked so, so good! The only thing that didn't sound so good was the three entire cups of chocolate chips it called for. I thought this was supposed to be healthy? So, I cut back a bit and only put them inside, not on the top as well as suggested. You are more than welcome to make this super chocolatey, but I was trying to stick with the "health" factor of this cake. 🙂 And personally, I felt like this was plenty rich! If you wish, you can spend the calories saved from cutting back on chocolate to serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. After all, this cake WILL give you a flat belly. 😉

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Snack Cake
Adapted from Prevention.com
Yields: one 9x13 cake

1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ heaping cup white granulated sugar
½ cup plain greek yogurt (if you use vanilla, cut back a little on the sugar)
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
½ cup roughly chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9x13 cake pan with parchment, set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, sugar, and oil. Add in the zucchini (no need to squeeze them of excess liquid). Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix well. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and pecans. Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before serving. If desired, sprinkle with cocoa powder or powdered sugar!