Welcome to #ChoctoberfestwithImperialSugar!!

We are celebrating Choctober this week and it is going to be chock full of giveaways and chocolaty recipes.  I am very excited.  This event is being brought to you by Allison, Jessica and Sharon of the PinterTest Kitchen.  These wonderful ladies did all the hard work the rest of us just got to play with chocolate....How fun is that?!!

We have over 60 participants who will be sharing their favorite chocolate recipes with you each day this week.  We also have 8 spectacular sponsors who not only provided us with great products but are also giving away great gifts that will be raffled off to all of our readers.

#Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. Bloggers from around the world will be posting their favorite chocolate recipes, and you'll get a chance to win some awesome prizes. What's not to love? Here's what this event is all about! #Choctoberfest would not be possible without our sponsors, starting with our 2015 Gold Sponsor, Imperial Sugar. Imperial Sugar has been a trusted name in family kitchens since 1843. Their sugar products and sweeteners are made from non-GMO cane sugar and ensure consistently delicious results. We'll be using Imperial Sugar whenever we use sugar in our recipes this week, and can't wait to share the sweetness with you! You can find Imperial Sugar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. Make sure you visit the recipes section of their website for some sweet inspiration, and you can also find coupons on their website if you want to try out Imperial Sugar yourself.

Imperial Sugar and our other sponsors have banded together to contribute some awesome prizes for our #Choctoberfest giveaway! Entering is simple - just click below to follow us on Pinterest. Here's what you could win:

• Granulated Sugar from Imperial Sugar
• Chocolate Mint Essential Woman Omega Swirl and Chocolate Silk Greens from Barlean's
• Chocolate bars (dark, milk, and white) from Lindt Chocolate
• Hemp seed prize pack (hulled hemp seed, toasted hemp seed, hemp seed oil, and hemp protein powder) from Just Hemp Foods
• Divine Chocolate gift set (15 flavors of chocolate bars!) from Divine Chocolate
• Dark chocolate caramels from Tahana Confections
• Vintage inspired gathering apron from Bless This Mess
• Lulu's Lovepack (6 flavors of chocolate bars!) from Lulu's Chocolate
• Pure Chocolate Lovers Supreme gift box from Pearson Farm

We also have a nonprofit sponsor this year - Rescue Chocolate! They make vegan chocolate treats and donate 100% of their proceeds to animal shelters. Enter now to win the #Choctoberfest prize. Hurry, because we're picking the winner on October 12 at 8:00 AM, so if you don't sign up before then, you'll miss your chance!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have a full week of Chocolate recipes to share with you this week.  The first, that I am sharing today, was made for my Granddaughter's first birthday party.  They were a huge hit and I am pleased to share them with you.  I felt very good about serving these at Little Miss Melody's party.  They are chock full zucchini that we all have an over abundance of at this time of year. I found this recipe at Taste of Home and adapted it only slightly.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

I made these chocolate cupcakes chock full of zucchini.

Then I made a cream cheese frosting that I tinted pink for my Little Miss.

Sprinkled them with magic golden fairy dust.

And served them proudly at her party.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
slightly adapted from Taste of Home

3 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
2 c, grated zucchini
Your favorite frosting, I used this recipe

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda ad salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.  In large bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.  Add vanilla.  Turn mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt, beating well after each addition.  Stir in the zucchini.  Place muffin cups or spray a 12 cup and 6 cup muffin pans with baking spray.  Divide the batter between the 18 cups and bake in a preheated 350* oven for 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.  Print Recipe

 A huge thank you to all of the other blogs participating in #Choctoberfest 2015. Check out their blogs throughout the week for chocolate recipes you won't be able to resist: The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin' Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • Aloha Flavor • Amy's Cooking Adventures • Angels Homestead • Balancing Motherhood • Bless this Mess • Busy-at-Home • Chocolate Slopes • Coconut & Lime • Colie's Kitchen • Cookaholic Wife • Cooking In Stilettos • Cooking With Libby • Cookistry • CopyKat Recipes • Cravings of a Lunatic • Crumbs in my Mustachio • Culinary Couture • Cupcakes Take The Cake • Deliciously Savvy • Eat It & Say Yum • Fairyburger • Famished Fish, Finicky Shark • Farm Fresh Feasts • Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine • Full Belly Sisters • Get Off The Couch and Cook • Grumpy's Honeybunch • Hey What's for Dinner Mom? • Honey and Birch • I Can Cook That • Jane's Adventures in Dinner • Jessie Weaver • Life on Food • Life, Love, and Good Food • Majorly Delicious • Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog • Mother Would Know • Or Whatever You Do • Poet in the Pantry • Recipes Food and Cooking • Sassy Southern Yankee • Savory Tart • Seduction in The Kitchen • Serena Lissy • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Take Two Tapas • That Skinny Chick Can Bake • ThatsSoYummy • The Chonchudo Files • The Crumby Cupcake • The Dinner-Mom • The Saucy Southerner • The Spiced Life • The Spiffy Cookie • The Two Bite Club • The Weekday Gourmet • Vintage Kitty • Wendy Polisi • What A Girl Eats • WhitBit's Indian Kitchen • Wit Wisdom & Food • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Are you a blogger who is interested in joining us during out next community event?

Sign up here now!

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Here are today's recipes

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