The perfect loaf of zucchini bread! It's soft and moist, deliciously spiced and those chocolate chips just make it sing. It's easy to make and it's a great way to use up all that summer zucchini.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 by 4-inch loaf pan and line with a sheet of parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides, butter parchment (alternately you can just butter pan and lightly dust with flour and shake out excess).
In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg for 20 seconds, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer blend together sugar, vegetable oil, applesauce, sour cream, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add dry ingredients then mix on low speed just until combined. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips, reserving 1 Tbsp chocolate chips for sprinkling over top of loaf. Pour into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle reserved chocolate chips over top.
Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean, about 55 - 65 minutes and tenting loaf with foil at about 45 minutes to prevent excessive browning on top. Cool in loaf pan about 3 minutes then run a sharp knife around edges of loaf to insure it's loose then remove loaf. Cool on wire rack (I recommend after 20 minutes of cooling, transfer loaf to an airtight container or gallon size resealable bag to seal in moisture and soften crust). Cut in to slices once cool.