Recipe Round-Up: Skinny Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread with Kellie

Oh friends. I can't tell you how good it is for my soul to be sharing recipes with you again. I have missed this. But my electric bill thanks you for letting me keep the oven off this summer. And so does my booty.

So, for my first recipe of the season, I have a special treat for you: a guest baker! All the way from northwest Oklahoma, I would like to introduce you to my sweet, charming cousin Kellie.

Kellie is my soul sister. I am fairly certain we were separated at birth, even though she and I do not share any of the same DNA and there is a four year difference between us. But who's counting, right? Kellie has been in my family since I was 11. She married her high school sweetheart, which happens to be my cousin Nathan, and has since produced four of the most adorable children on the planet.

In addition, Kellie and I like to take long drives in the country, eat cookie dough out of the bowl and fight over my aunt Marge's homemade hot fudge sauce. We might as well be clones.

When I took a last-minute trip to Oklahoma over Labor Day, I knew I had to have Kellie make a special appearance on this blog. So, along with the help of these two twinkies, Kellie and I whipped up this skinny chocolate chip zucchini bread in a mere matter of minutes.

Meet Rachel and Grace.

Er, Grace and Rachel.

Um...yep, that's them.

So, here are some of the things you will need:

Plus this:

And definitely don't forget these:



Let's do this, peeps.



First, grate the heck out of those zukes.

Just like that.

Watch out for zucchini carnage. It's brutal.

While I grated the zukes, Kel and the girls mixed the dry ingredients.



They stirred them together and set them aside while we worked on the wet ingredients.

Side note: Notice Kellie's red spoonula. I told you she was my soul sister.

Next up: egg whites. This is where part of the "skinny" comes into play.

I had Kellie do this. Egg whites kinda gross me out.

Pour the egg whites and one whole egg into a mixing bowl.

Side note: It's a good thing we did this at Kel's house because I still do not have my 90th Anniversary Kitchenaid Mixer in Candy Apple Red.

Apparently I am a little bitter about this.

Then, part two of the "skinny," add apple sauce in place of some of the oil.

Add your oil...

And your vanilla...

And then your sugar, sugar.

Mix the tar out of it.

I heart power tools.

Then add the freshly (or frozen) grated zucchini and mix again.

Once the zuke is well incorporated, throw in the dry ingredients.

Side note: Don't actually "throw" in the ingredients.

And mix again. Oh people, it is starting to get delicious. 

Next up: the chocolate chips, a.k.a. bits of heavenly deliciousness.

And you thought the zucchini were the stars of this show.  Think again, sister.

Now, once they are stirred in, grease two loaf pans.

And pour in. Put the pans in the oven and bake!

In the meantime, stick your head in the bowl.

There are no words to describe how much I love this girl.

And I am a pretty big fan of these two as well.

Once they bake and get all happy, pull them out and let them cool. Keep one for yourself to eat after the kids have gone to bed and take the other one over to your aunt's house to share with your cousin who traveled through the vast wasteland of Kansas to see you.

Or something like that.

The end result is an amazingly moist...

completely delicious...

zucchini bread that has more flavor and less than half the calories of regular zucchini bread. Now who doesn't want that? Exactly.

So, let's give a shout-out to Kellie and her sweet girls. They were the best guest bakers this blog has ever seen!

Here is the recipe, peeps. If you are familiar with Weight Watchers, this recipe was taken from their website. Kellie and I substituted chocolate chips for nuts and raisins. Naturally.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Skinny Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

2 serving(s) butter-flavor cooking spray

2 cup(s) whole wheat flour
2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
3 large egg white(s)
1 large egg(s)
1 cup(s) sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup(s) canola oil
2/3 cup(s) unsweetened applesauce
2 cup(s) zucchini, peeled, grated, and drained*
1/2 cup(s) chopped walnuts
1/2 cup(s) raisins, finely chopped


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat two 8- X 4-inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon; set aside.

Using an electric mixer, in a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Add egg, sugar, vanilla extract, oil and applesauce, and beat until thoroughly combined; beat in zucchini.

Add sifted ingredients to egg mixture and mix well; fold in nuts and raisins. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake in middle of oven until a toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Slice each bread into 10 pieces and serve warm or at room temperature. Yields 1 slice per serving.

Notes:
* You’ll need about 1 1/2 medium zucchinis (about 3/4 lb) to yield 2 cups shredded zucchini.

We renovated Zucchini Bread from 9 POINTS values to 3 POINTS values by:
1. Cutting back on the oil and sugar and replacing some of each with applesauce for its moisture and sweetness.
2. Replacing most of the white flour with much more nutritious whole-wheat flour (and adding more baking powder to help maintain a proper result).
3. Replacing some eggs with egg whites.
Cutting back on the quantity of nuts and raisins used but chopping them up to help sprinkle them throughout.