Chocolate Zucchini Bread

You'll love this chocolate zucchini bread recipe! Packed with shredded zucchini and gooey chocolate chips, it's amazingly moist and fudgy.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This double chocolate zucchini bread recipe is based on the chocolate zucchini muffins from our first cookbook. While I love that recipe, I wanted to make a version that would work well as a loaf for slicing and enjoying with a morning latte or afternoon coffee.

This super easy, delicious chocolate zucchini bread recipe came out better than I could have imagined. It has a perfect cakey crumb, delectable moist texture, and rich chocolate flavor. Like my traditional zucchini bread recipe, this one makes two loaves. We gobble them up pretty quickly at our house, but if you have extra, pop one loaf in the freezer for another day, or share it with a friend!

Chocolate zucchini bread recipe ingredients

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe Ingredients

My chocolate zucchini bread is rich, moist, and perfectly spiced…and (chocolate chips aside) it’s fairly healthy, too! Here’s what I use to make this delightful summer treat:

  • Flour – A mix of white and whole wheat flour gives it a perfect moist texture and a little whole grain power.
  • Baking powder, baking soda, and eggs – They help the bread puff up as it bakes.
  • Cinnamon and nutmeg – They add a lovely spiced contrast to the chocolate.
  • Sea salt – I add a dash to highlight the rich chocolate flavor.
  • Maple syrup – I swap maple syrup for granulated or brown sugar, so this healthy chocolate zucchini bread is refined sugar-free!
  • Almond milk – For moisture. If you don’t keep almond milk on hand, substitute whatever kind of milk you do. Oat milk, cow’s milk, and soy milk would all work well here.
  • Coconut oil – I use just ¼ cup to make the bread rich, but not too decadent.
  • Vanilla extract – It adds warm depth to the spiced chocolate flavor.
  • Zucchini – I grate mine on the largest holes of a box grater to get the best moist, zucchini-flecked texture!
  • Chocolate chips – I don’t recommend skimping on these guys! You’ll fold some into the batter to make the inside of the bread super fudgy and delicious. Then, you’ll sprinkle more on top!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Pouring dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients

How to Make Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This double chocolate zucchini bread recipe couldn’t be simpler to make! Here’s how it goes:

First, whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and gently stir to combine.

Hand using wooden spoon to fold chocolate chips into batter

Fold in the chocolate chips. Look how chocolatey that batter is!!

Hand sprinkling chocolate chips over chocolate zucchini bread batter in loaf pans

Pour the batter into two pans, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean.

Place the pans on wire racks, and allow the loaves to cool in the pan before digging in. So easy!

Double chocolate zucchini bread in loaf pan

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe Tips

  • Be careful not to overmix! As with all baking recipes that use wheat flour, overmixing the batter will make the bread dense. Stir until everything is just combined to get soft, moist, and puffy loaves.
  • Use two packed cups of zucchini. The zucchini is essential for adding moisture, so pack your cups full! Skimping on it will yield a drier final loaf. No need to press or squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini. We want all of it to go into the bread!
  • Bake once, eat twice. This recipe makes two loaves of quick bread. I like to enjoy one right away and slice and freeze the other for easy breakfasts or whenever I have a chocolate zucchini bread craving. To thaw a slice, let it sit out at room temperature for an hour or so, or pop it in the microwave for around 30 seconds.
  • Try changing it up! Swap half the chocolate chips for chopped walnuts or dried tart cherries. Or, if you have it on hand, use yellow squash in place of the zucchini. Let me know what variations you try!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

More Favorite Easy Baking Recipes

If you love this chocolate zucchini bread, try one of these yummy baking recipes next:

And for more zucchini recipes, check out this post.

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Chocolate Zucchini Bread

rate this recipe:
4.93 from 79 votes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Serves 16 (makes 2 loaves)
You'll love this double chocolate zucchini bread recipe! Packed with shredded zucchini and gooey chocolate chips, it's moist, fudgy, and deeply chocolatey.

Ingredients

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup whole wheat flour
  • cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 large eggs
  • cups almond milk, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • cup maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray two 8x4” loaf pans with nonstick spray.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond milk, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir in the zucchini. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops spring back to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

 

159 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Ginette
    10.01.2023

    I love this recipe! My daughter discovered it and I’ve made it three times in the past month. And sent it to friends who also love it. It is my new go to zucchini recipe. Thank you!

  2. Deimy
    08.19.2023

    What are the nutritional values?

  3. Elizabeth Terry
    08.11.2023

    My loaves stuck so badly to my pans that I can’t send the bread as a birthday treat to my granddaughter.

  4. Lindley
    08.06.2023

    4 stars
    Satisfied my chocolate craving and sweet tooth! Preferred it heated up for chocolatey goodness. … 1 slice. 214 calories. (8g F/33g C/ 4g P) I followed the recipe exactly and calculated macros in MyFitnessPal.

  5. Elle
    08.04.2023

    2 stars
    Hi, I tried this recipe for the first time the other day and was very disappointed as the loaves fell after they came out of the oven. I did add walnuts along with the chocolate chips, but the only thing I really can think of is maybe it was the cocoa powder. The recipe did not specify natural or processed Dutch cocoa, so I used what I had – the Dutch processed cocoa powder. I previously read that it makes a difference between the two because of the chemistry of the baking powder and baking soda from one kind of cocoa to another.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      08.04.2023

      Hi Elle, it may have been that the loaves needed an extra few minutes in the oven. They can sometimes fall when they’re slightly underbaked. Because this recipe has both baking soda and baking powder, I don’t think the cocoa powder would have made the difference.

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We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.