Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Pistachios: National Pistachio Day

Today is National Pistachio Day! I posted this recipe for Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Pistachios last summer when my zucchini plants were taking over the garden. I can get zucchini at the market (not the farmers' market), so I can make this Zucchini Bread to Celebrate the day. This bread is tasty hot out of the oven or toasted the next day with fresh sweet butter, cream cheese or mascarpone.

The Secret Ingredient: Pistachios! Pistachios add taste and texture to this wonderful moist zucchini bread.

A bit of information from ferrebeekeeper (a wonderful blog about art, nature and gardening anecdotes):

Pistachios' clam-like seeds pop open when they are ripe and the exposed seed has a brownish pink skin–which in turn reveals a pale creamy green flesh inside. Pistachios are members of the Anacardiaceae family, which includes sumacs and poison ivy.  (this makes it perfect for my other blog: www.mysteryfanfare.com) Like these scary relatives, pistachio plants (and seeds) can contain the oily irritant urushiol—so pistachios sometimes trigger allergies and rashes, however, dieticians assert that the seed is one of the healthier sources of protein and oils. Traditionally pistachio nuts were dyed red to hide the blemishes made by handpicking, however this false color is no longer necessary.

Please use natural pistachios in the following recipe. No red dye #3!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Pistachios!

Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp Madagascar Vanilla
2 Tbsp sweet butter
6 Tbsp DARK Cocoa
2 cups zucchini, grated
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped chocolate chunks or dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
2 tsp flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
In large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Mix until well blended.
In small saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp butter, add 6 Tbsp cocoa and blend tuntil smooth. Set aside to cool.
Peel and grate zucchini. Add zucchini and cooled cocoa mixture to the large mixing bowl and blend well.
In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the batter. Stir only enough to blend in all the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, coat broken up chocolate chunks (or chips) with 2 tsp flour.
Fold in flour-coated chocolate chunks and chopped pistachios to batter.
Spoon batter into two greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pans or into a greased bundt pan.
Bake 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes.
Remove from pans and continue to cool on a wire rack.

US Pistachios: How they're Harvested.




Hat Tip @FriendsEatNYC for YouTube Pistachio Harvesting Video