Belly gets what belly wants.

Jessica is getting married next month! Eeek! September is a big month for Parker Baby Co. - you may notice my growing belly in the photos below. Jessica made this banana zucchini chocolate chip bread for her sweetie's Bachelor Party in July with massive zucchinis from their garden in the city.

I guess they were on a beer diet that weekend because a few slices came home to me after the festivities and I LOVED it. So, when she brought me this big ole' zucchini yesterday and we had some overripe bananas, I knew exactly what needed to happen.

I love recipes that use not-so-desirable ingredients that may have been sitting around for too long. Brown bananas and zucchinis that spent too much time on the vine make the perfect bread! 

Does anything smell better than fresh bread + cinnamon in the oven? Wish you could smell this through your screen right now, don't you?

The timing of bread is always funny. It all depends on how exact your ingredients are, how big the bananas were, your altitude, etc. So I just started checking it around 50 minutes, but it probably look about 65 minutes here in Parker, CO.

Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe:

Adjusted from Taste of Home

4 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions: 
1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
2. In a bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar and oil. Add bananas and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; slowly add into egg mixture while stirring to mix.
4. Stir in zucchini, pecans and chocolate chips until just combined.
5. Pour into two greased 9x5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 50+ minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Now enjoy with a hot cup of coffee for breakfast, an afternoon snack, dessert, etc. :)