Meet chocolate zucchini bread —the delicious, guiltless, chocolatey treat of the summer. For kids—and healthy eaters—of all ages. Sneaking more veggies onto the dinner plate is nothing new. But doing it with chocolate flavor!?
Zucchini is great in baked goods because it adds a little moisture, so your bread is super moist, not bone dry.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe
So Much Squash!! Zucchini, if we’re being specific. I love growing a summer garden and when the zucchini is happy, I can’t cook it fast enough.
I used to make this bread to sneak a serving of veggies past my kids. Now I make it to keep up with my garden. It’s a great way to use—and share—the bounty of summer.
Here’s the other truth-I would happily choose chocolate over veggies for a snack any day. Every day. So at least this way I’m having my chocolate and my vegetables too. Decadent. Virtuous. I’m in.
This falls into the category of cut-a-slice-to-eat-anytime-you-want. Which also makes it a summertime favorite, especially when busy eaters are hungry at different times.
Looking for more delicious quick bread recipes? I’ve got your back! Try my easy zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, apple bread, and peach bread. All these loaves are delish, I promise. 🥰
This is a square of chocolate you can feel good about.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Non-Stick Cooking Spray or Butter
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (regular not dutch processed cocoa)
- Granulated Sugar
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips or Dark Chocolate Chips
- Egg
- Vegetable Oil
- All-Purpose Flour
- Grated Zucchini
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Vanilla Extract
Equipment You’ll Need
- 9X5 Inch loaf pan
- Medium Bowl or Large Bowl
- Whisk
- Box Grater
- Parchment Paper
Tips
To Drain or Not Drain? In this recipe, you do not drain or wring the moisture out of the grated zucchini. If you do, the bread will be unpleasantly dry.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Store the whole loaf or individual slices in an airtight container or in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for a week.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes. Cut them into individual portions, hotel wrap them, and then store them in an airtight resealable bag. It can last for 2-3 months in the freezer.
- Make-Ahead Tips: I like to make these ahead of time then cut them into individual portions and freeze them.
Variation
- Nuts: This is delicious with nuts added to the recipe. My favorites to add are pecans or walnuts. Just fold in 1 cup of chopped nuts when you fold in the chocolate chips.
- Yellow Squash: Prefer yellow squash to zucchini? Feel free to substitute it!
- Vanilla: You can increase the amount from one teaspoon of vanilla extract to two.
How to Make Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Grate. Grate the zucchini.
- Combine. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix. In a bowl combine egg, sugar, vanilla, and zucchini. Add the dry ingredients. Mix.
- Fold and transfer. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into the loaf pan. Top with chips.
- Bake. Bake for almost an hour or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
The complete instructions are below.
More Zucchini Recipes
- Lemon Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Zucchini Corn Fritters
- Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats
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Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups zucchini grated with liquid
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9X5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or butter; set aside
- Grate the zucchini in a bowl.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour (2 1/4 cup), cocoa powder (1/3 cup), baking powder (1 1/2teaspoon), salt (1/2 teaspoon).
- In a separate bowl beat eggs (2), oil (1/2 cup), sugar (1 cup), vanilla (1 teaspoon), and zucchini (2 cups) with the liquid.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture.
- Fold in chocolate chips (1/2 cup) and pour into the prepared loaf pan. Top with more chips if desired. Make a small cut lengthwise about ¼ inch deep in the center of the bread.
- Bake for 55-70 minutes (mine took 1 hour and 10 minutes) minutes until the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist breadcrumbs.
- Let the bread sit in the loaf tin for 10 minutes before taking it out and leaving on a wire rack to cool completely.
Fans Also Made:
Nutrition
I have made this and mine seems real heavy I did add the oil. Something is not right. Says add zucchini with liquid? What liquid? No milk or water is added
Hi, Leann. Zucchini with liquid means that the zucchini will not be squeezed to remove the liquid. Grate and add the zucchini as is. Hope this helps.
Oh my, I tried your chocolate zucchini cake last summer. We love how moist it was. This bread is super moist too! Thank you. I’m gonna bake more!
I’m glad you like both the cake and bread! Chocolate and zucchini go together perfectly, right? Thank you so much for your feedback!
i want to make this bread but the recipe does not include any oil or butter. is this a mistake ????????
Sorry about that Barbara! I’ve fixed the recipe. It uses 1/2 cup of vegetable oil <3