Plus 25 other recipes to use up a glut of courgettes!
It’s that time of year again when 3 or four courgettes appear in my veg box every week. I don’t grow my own as our coastal garden is far too exposed to the moods of the North Sea, but my veg box providers do a fantastic job of growing a wide range of produce using polytunnels, shelters and pure skill.
It does mean I’m needing to find new and creative ways to use up all these courgettes though, and inspiration struck the other day: why don’t I add some to our family favourite banana bread? Perhaps with a bit of chocolate?
My first experiment went remarkably well – I simply grated up some courgette and pressed some of the moisture out of it between two clean tea towels while I prepared my usual batter recipe, omitting one of the bananas.
Oh, and I added most of a packet of milk chocolate chips I had lying around, sprinkling the remaining chocolate chips over the top of the bread before baking.
An entirely successful experiment and the loaf was devoured within an hour of my children coming home from school. Seriously, five hungry people can make rather short work of a still-warm chocolate courgette banana bread, I tell you!
The thing is, I had forgotten to weigh out how much courgette I used, so for my next experiment I thought I’d use a little bit more than before. It didn’t work. It was far too dense due to the quantity of courgette (but that didn’t stop my kids from devouring that one too!).
Back to the drawing board, and a few dark chocolate banana courgette breads later I’ve got the right recipe! Half a small courgette is sufficient – approximately 125 grams. Any more than that and the bake is too dense and moist.
This makes for the perfect lunch-box or after-school snack for the kids, or as a mid-afternoon snack with a cuppa. Eat plain, as is, or spread with butter or even some chocolate hazelnut spread for an added indulgence, but be warned, a loaf won’t last in the house for very long!
Alternatively, omit the chocolate and add some warming Autumnal spices to make a spiced banana courgette loaf.
Over the years I’ve experimented with various ways of using up courgettes from grating them and sticking them into a courgette spaghetti alfredo recipe, turning them into a spiced courgette and tomato chutney (one of my top most visited blog posts!) and even sticking them in a chocolate courgette cake but one recipe that caught my eye recently is this roasted courgette recipe from Recipes from a Pantry. I’m looking forward to trying that one out soon.
How do you use up a glut of courgettes? Let me know in the comments!
Dark Chocolate Chunk Banana & Courgette Loaf
Ingredients
- 125 grams courgette grated
- 50 grams butter softened
- 175 grams granulated sugar
- 1 large free-range egg
- 2 bananas (approximately 250 grams)
- 200 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 pinch Shetland sea salt
- 100 grams dark chocolate chunks
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/ 160 C fan. Grease and line a loaf tin and set aside.
- Grate the courgette, leaving the peel on, and spread out over a thickness of paper towel (or a clean tea towel) to drain while you prepare the batter. I use a little bit more towel on top (or a second clean tea towel) to press out any extra moisture, you don't want the courgette watery.
- Using a fork, mash together the butter and sugar until well combined. I've tried using a mixer for this but I find mashing it with a fork results in a better consistency in the final bake.
- Whisk in the egg and add the mashed banana.
- Measure in the plain flour and bicarbonate of soda. Use a wooden spoon to mix until just combined. Don't overmix.
- Fold in the grated courgette and all but one tablespoonful of the dark chocolate chunks.
- Spoon into the prepared loaf tin, smoothing over the top. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chunks over the top of the batter.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 60 minutes, until the top is golden.
- Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice and eat as is, buttered, or with some chocolate hazelnut spread for an extra indulgent treat.
25 OTHER COURGETTE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE TO MAKE
Italian-Style Courgette & Basil Soup
Courgette & Poppyseed Muffins
Broad Bean & Courgette Soup with Gouda
Courgette & Basil Soup with Focaccia Toast
Chocolate Courgette Loaf
Courgette Spaghetti Alfredo
Spiced Tomato & Courgette Chutney
Chocolate Courgette Cake
Broad Bean & Courgette Salad
Courgetti Bolognese
Courgette & Hummus Pizza
Vegetarian & Gluten Free Lasagne
Courgette (Zucchini) Pizza Bites
Morello Cherry & Lime Courgette Cake
Courgette & Broad Bean Soup with Chilli & Fennel
Sausage Ragu Stuffed Courgettes
Courgette, Leek & Herb Risotto Cake
Leek & Courgette Soup
Pesto Zucchini Noodles with Shrimps & Feta
Spiralized Courgettes with Garlic & Mushrooms
Spiced Courgette Fritters
Zucchini & Ricotta Tarts
Turkish Zucchini Fritters
Roasted Courgette Recipe
Courgette & Dark Chocolate Chunk Pancakes with maple yogurt
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Surviving the Summer Holidays with Berocca
Unexpectedly delicious! Will def make again (& again).
Aw wow, thank you! I am glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I had to look up courgette but realized it was squash or zucchini. Thats what we call it in the US. I have made zucchini bread for years. It does give it a great flavor. I’m pinning this recipe for later.
Zucchini (aka courgette) Slice is a great way to use a glut of them. 375g zucchini is required for each slice. Delicious hot or cold.
I would never have thought to combine courgette with banana for a loaf, but this sounds great, and I love banana bread.
Never made this before but I tend to make banana bread every week now. Just never added anything extra into it.
This looks so yummy!
I have a recipe for a banana cake which also uses corgette and it has so tasty!
I also love making roasted courgette slices. They are so good!
Never actually tried to make courgette cake myself, but always interested! This one looks super tasty.
wow that is a splendid idea! I’ve tried cake with lemon and courgette once, I was skeptical but was convinced that it does add up to the moisture as soon as I tried it. So this must be pretty good – also a good way to hide vegetables in a cake for little ones! I’ve pinned it and will try it soon.
Banana Bread is my go to cake and so I can’t wait to try this with the glut of courgettes around
this is an amazing idea I’m going to try this it sounds delicious I expect mine wont look like yours but I will give it a go!
Courgette in a cake? This sounds so interesting, but I imagine it results in a lovely moist cake 🙂
They are a lot of cakes recipes with courgettes lately. I really like the idea as it sounds so much healthier. Great experiment
I LOVE recipes like this! As a mum of four children who all pull their faces at vegetables, I sneak them into anything I can! I am so going to try this, we love banana bread!
this looks so good. I’ve had a similar thing a long time ago and was so surprised when I was told the ingredients!
Oh, delicious. Love courgettes in cakes makes them so moist! Pinned!
I’ve never made my own bread before but this looks awesome, I love the courgette/chocolate combo idea!
I would never have thought to add courgette to banana bread. Sounds like a very easy recipe to follow so I might have to try this out as I need to include my veggies in my diet x
Wow! I make a lot of banana bread, but never made it with chocolate chunks before. Must try this ‘upgrade’ next time.
OH MY this banana bread looks amazing! I would have never guessed there are courgettes in it, love the healthy addition!
Wow now this is what you call a creative away of making courgettes trendy. The bread looks delicious x
This isn’t a recipe I’ve heard of before, however your pictures look delicious and I will definitely be trying this out soon!
I would never have thought to add courgette to a chocolate bread before x
Wow!!!
I am trying this tomorrow! I am always looking for ways to add vegetables to the kids diets. they eat a few but hiding them is always helpful too.
I might give it a go with white choc chips too as I could possibly live on them 😉 (Well and pasta and cheese!!!!) So maybe not but I do love them….which is why there are probably none in the pantry as I have hidden myself in there and eaten them all…..
This looks utterly glorious, would love a slice with a nice cup of tea:-) Thanks for including my recipe:-)
I love courgette or zucchini recipes – most recently I made some zucchini and cheese muffins bu I really loved a saovury yeasted bread with zucchini I made some years ago. Roasted courgettes sound great. And your bread looks really beautiful – I would love to come home to a loaf of it
Love the look of this, especially your generosity with the chocolate chips!
Beautiful looking cake and such a good way to use a glut of courgettes.
As a fellow North American by birth I too love using veg like zucchini (okay, technically it’s a fruit) in both savory and sweet recipes. But you are so right about not going overboard with it as even with pretty good wringing in a tea towel, zucchini add a lot of moisture to a cake. It looks very much like you’ve nailed it here. Gorgeous images – and happy testers’ tummies, too!