A Delicious Melody: Chocolate Swirled Zucchini Bread

I love quick breads, but I bet you already knew that. They are just what they say they are; quick! You whip them up in a couple minutes, bake them for a bit and voila in an hour you have a marvelous, delicious and sometimes decadent cakish bread! :) Yum.

So, when one of my co-workers had her last day of work yesterday, I wanted to make something for her going away "party" of sorts. So I thought of swirling some chocolate into my zucchini bread, and boy am I happy I did! It takes the yum factor up a lot! I'd experimented with chocolate chip quick breads before but not the swirl. The swirl not only adds a "wow" factor but also melds together the flavors of the bread and chocolate better than just adding some chips in... or at least in my opinion it does! :) See for yourself...

Chocolate Swirled Zucchini Bread: (My zucchini bread with a twist)
1 generous cup of shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1/3 c. shortening
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. sugar
2 c. flour
2 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Any will do, but if you wouldn't eat it outside of the bread don't use it...could also use unsweetened or milk chocolate if you prefer!:)
optional: 1/4 t. each Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice

1. Mix together shredded zucchini, eggs, shortening, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar until well combined. Then stir in flour 1/2 c. at a time until combined.
2. Slowly melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 15 sec. increments--stirring in-between--until smooth and melted.
3. Pour about half of the zucchini bread batter into a lightly greased 1 lb. loaf pan. Then spoon the chocolate across the batter. Gently spoon the rest of the batter over the chocolate layer as pictured below. Then using a knife or an offset spatula carefully swirl the chocolate around. Only swirl 3 times or so, unless you want chocolate zucchini bread without a swirl.

4. Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. While you can feel free to eat it hot (careful!) or warm, I recommend letting it cool down at room temp, wrapping it up overnight and eating it the next day.