Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My kids LOVE this cake, even knowing that it's lowish-fat, lowish-sugar, gluten-free, and made with veggies.  It is very moist and dense, and the chocolate is satisfying but not heavy.  You can use applesauce or bananas, both work well.  The applesauce flavor doesn't come through but the banana flavor does.  It is still a moist, dense cake with regular flour, but a little less so.  It's delicious either way.

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed overly ripe bananas (or applesauce)

1/4 cup vegetable oil (or substitute extra bananas or applesauce!)

1 cup sugar (with bananas you can probably even get away with 3/4 cup)

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2-1/2 cups flour (the BEST GF flour I've found is Walmart's Great Value--and it's the cheapest!)

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/3 cup chocolate chips (if you add extra, I won't tell)

Directions:

Grease a 9x13 baking pan (I use a glass one, but metal should be fine--you may have to adjust the time) and preheat the oven to 350.  

In a large mixing bowl, beat the bananas, oil (if using), and sugar until well mixed and the sugar is mostly dissolved.  Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla, mixing well.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until fully combined.  Stir in the zucchini by hand.  The batter will be thick and a bit sticky, so don't worry.  Spread the batter into the greased baking pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.  

Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  It's good warm or cooled.