Zucchini Chocolate Cake

I have for your delight and delectation an incredibly delicious recipe for cake that includes a vegetable. Don't believe me that vegetables belong in cakes? Try this recipe and have your heart changed! This recipe comes from my friend Sara, which is a modified version of the recipe her Mom taught her. Her family has been adding veggies to food since before it was cool, folks. They have perfected the art of the dessert that makes you feel less guilty, more full, and not overloaded! This cake is a kind of coffee cake, but is fluffy enough to be used for birthday cake in my opinion. Sara doesn't ice it, and I agree with her completely that it doesn't need it. It's perfectly sweet without making your teeth hurt. Alright, enough rambling, time to get baking!

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce (or a little more if you want a moister cake)
1/2 cup of packed in brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of buttermilk or sour milk
2 cups of flour (you can do 1 of white and 1 of whole wheat, I did both of white and it was nice!)
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups zucchini, peeled and shredded (I put mine in the food processor, the drained some of the water, Sara shreds hers on a cheese grater)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (resist the temptation to add more as the melted chips will make the cake messy if you add much more, trust me)

Cream your butter, apple sauce and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and set aside. In a second bowl, mix all your dry ingredients (less your chocolate chips) and add to creamed mixture. Your mix will be thick, don't worry!  Stir in shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. The zucchini will make your batter much less thick, but it will still have some thickness. Pour batter into either a 9X9 or 9X12 non-stick or glass pan. I sprayed a little cooking spray on the inside of my pan before pouring in my batter, but I'm not entirely sure it needs it. Bake at 325F for 40-45 minutes. At around 40 minutes, maybe earlier if your oven runs hot, take a sharp knife or wooden stick to test that the middle of the is cooked. If you tester comes out clean it's done. Let cool for 30 minutes and then dig in. This cake is good hot, cold, night, day, in pjs or fancy dress clothes. You really can't go wrong. The directions look complicated the first time, but it takes me no more than 20 minutes plus cooking time, and it is worth every second of that!