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.

 Ready to slice!

Ready to eat!  Went over very well with my co-workers too!  :)