Double Chocolate Carrot Bread

I found this recipe in the gardening magazine, The Heirloom Gardener. It is a quarterly magazine that I look forward to each season. It's both a great gardening magazine and now a great recipe magazine. I guess I am going to have to try more of their recipes because this bread is moist and very very tasty. The cinnamon and nutmeg gives the chocolate a little kick.Makes two loaves but I'm thinking that you could probably make this into a bundt cake, too.

4 C flour
1/2 C cocoa**
1 1/2 C sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 C grated carrots
1 1/2 C vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 C milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. butter two 8X4 loaf pans.

In a large bowl combine (whisk together) all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients except for chocolate chips.

Stir carrot mixture into the flour mixture until just blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to completely cool.

Added 2-5-2011 **I used Dutch processed cocoa.

The recipe called this a bread but really it isn't anything close to a bread or a pound cake. It is a loaf cake that is so moist and delicious that it doesn't even need an icing. I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a slice last night and it was just perfect. Next time I make this cake it will be in the form of a bundt cake.