Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
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The massive zucchini rush (too bad it’s not a gold rush, right?!) has slowed down in the garden, but I’m still picking at least one every couple of days. That’s more than enough zucchini to eat and still have some left for baking experiments! I’ve done my fair share of zucchini bread, from a traditional version, to my grandma’s recipe with pineapple, walnuts and dates, and even zucchini cornbread. While I have seen tons of recipes for zucchini bread fused with chocolate, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Believe it or not, given my disdain for most vegetables, I actually like zucchini bread… And we all know I positively love chocolate, but for some reason I just couldn’t envision these two worlds mashing together in a positive way. It’s a good thing I got desperate with the zucchini that was sitting around and wanted to try a new recipe, or else I wouldn’t have finally given in to the chocolate and zucchini marriage. I definitely went into this recipe skeptical and was proven way wrong on all accounts. This bread is utterly amazing – it’s rich, sweet, moist and oozing with chocolate flavor. I am a skeptic no more. Bring on the chocolate zucchini goodness!
I had been poking around for a chocolate zucchini bread recipe for awhile before stumbling across this one. My mom said she remembered my grandma making some chocolate zucchini loaves on a few occasions, but we couldn’t find an actual recipe. I found a few others online that didn’t look quite chocolate-y enough for my very high-maintenance (read: like a 5-year-old’s) taste buds, and then last week this beauty popped up in my Google reader. I always love to see what the folks over at King Arthur Flour are baking up since they’re my favorite stop for ingredients and baking tools, and they knocked it out of the park with this bread. The chocolate flavor is deep and rich, the bread stays moist thanks to the zucchini, and the chocolate chips give it an extra oomph of chocolate flavor and really add to the texture. Almost everyone who tasted this agreed that it tasted like an incredible piece of chocolate cake. We even sliced some for dessert and topped it with vanilla ice cream! You could also go the route of my Double-Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread and eat it for breakfast. Both are perfectly acceptable serving options in my book!
Can I still claim that I’m eating my veggies when my veggies are baked into a vat of chocolate? I say yes! :)
Three years ago: Tin Roof Ice Cream
Five years ago: Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins[/donotprint]
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (208.33 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (28.67 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup (109 ml) vegetable oil
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (113 ml) honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (248 g) shredded zucchini
- 1 cup (180 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8x4-inch loaf pan; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, brown sugar, honey and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the batter together until almost no flour remains. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips, ensuring they are evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick (or thin knife) inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. Store leftovers at room temperature, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Delicious! And so easy. I baked as eight little cakes (special pan) for about 30 minutes. You would never guess the zucchini is there.
Hey Michelle. So after trying the zucchini corn bread recipe I decided to try making this recipe. It turned out AMAZING. I added a little more sugar tho. My family gobbled it all up.
Turned out a little dry for me. Not sure if it was because i baked in a convection oven but only baked for 60 min at 350.
Hi Michelle! So I am planning on making this and have a question. Do you think I could use a 9×9 glass pan and bake it as a cake? I have a banana bread cake recipe I do that for and wondered if you think that would work? I usually bake that one around 45-50 minutes…
Hi Margie, You could but it would bake up pretty thin – there’s a lot more volume in a 9-inch square pan than a loaf pan. Maybe try doubling the recipe? Does the banana bread recipe you use yield two loaves?
Hello, what can I substitute for the honey?
Hi Juli, You could use Lyle’s golden syrup.
I made this!! It was 20 minutes from being done, it was 2:00 in the morning, and i looked at the counter to see- to my frustration- an untouched bottle of sunflower oul.in exasperation i turned off the oven and went to bed, leaving the bread in. I whispered to my husband ‘the bread is ruined’. But i woke up the next morning to find him happily eating a slice! Not bad!! In fact pretty darn good! I made another today with the oil to compare… Update to come!
I baked this today. Yummy! And sooo easy! :)
Turned out great. Yum!
This looks really good. I will defininately have to make this. I love the combination of zucchini and chocolate. My mother always makes zucchini chocolate chip cookies that are to die for!
Would love to try this recipe! But howmany zucchinis aprroximately do we need to make 2 cups?
Hi Livia, It really depends on how large the zucchini is. One large zucchini could yield you 2 cups, but it just depends on the size.
I tried this recipe yesterday, kinda late I know but the result (according to my friends and family) was great but I thought that I missed something especially after looking at your photos again. Your recipes are really helping me improve my baking skills….thank you all the way from Kenya.
This was fabulous!! I doubled the recipe cuz I got lots o zucchini. We only put in half of the chocolate chips and it was still fabu! Thanks so much!
I’ve made this porbably 4 times this summer!! LOVE.
Oops. “Probably.” Good thing I bake better than I type : )
This sounds like a great receipt. I cant wait to try it! My question to you is since i’m a new baker is there a way to use applesauce or greek yogurt instead of some of the other ingredients? To make it a little healthier? I have made lots of things with subs but wasn’t sure which ingredients to sub or if it was even worth trying to change the receipt in any way and still get a great loaf
Hi Rachael, You could use applesauce (I would use unsweetened) in place of the vegetable oil in this recipe.
thank you for a great cake! easy to make, moist and yummy and OH SO CHOCOLATeY!!! love it
Made this and it was a huge hit! So chocolatey!
I made this bread last night and I didn ‘t tell anyone it had zucchini in it until after they had tried it and even my 7 year old son said “Mom this Bukinni is so yummy!” The adults were all very surprised and asked for seconds. I will be using this recipe again I’m sure!
While I wouldn’t exactly call this bread, HAHA! More like cake, I made today, I had to slice it into 12 slices so I can justify the calories. HAHA! Phenomenal taste.
Who knew chocolate and zucchini would mix? I usually send my baked goods off to work with my wife so (I don’t sit home all day and eat!) but this bread I had to save for myself. Luckily it freezes well!
I have been stalking your site and bookmarking recipes to make whenever I have time. I baked this bread and it’s so good. It got a thumbs up from all family members — including two three year olds! Love it – not too sweet and just the right amount of ‘chocolateyness’ !! Thanks so much for all of your recipes!
I’m gonna try this one :)
My usual is a chocolate zucchini layer cake with cream cheese icing- I also make it in a 9″x13″ sheet or cupcakes for work. (stealth zucchini off-loading)
But this one looks like I could pass it off at breakfast on the weekend – whoo-hoo!
Made this to bring to my parents on the farm this weekend. SOOOO good.
I’ve been paring down on my feeds lately, and yours is one of the few blogs I kept on my list. All the recipes are very good and this bread is to die for. I started making it at 9 pm (Europe) thinking of having it for breakfast. It’s past midnight now and all there’s left is one slice – and it’s mine, mwahahaha!
Hi Anna, So glad you kept me around! :)
I made a loaf this morning, it’s so good!!
Between the garden and our CSA, I am still up to my ears with zucchini. I was just thinking I wanted to try some new zucchini bread recipes, and this one certainly sounds like a winner. Yum!
I love chocolate zucchini cake. The first time I made it I had bought a zucchini for a weight watchers soup recipe. After ONE day on weight watchers, I said the heck with that and made chocolate zucchini bread instead. Your version sounded great with the honey in it, so I just made it to take to work tomorrow. It smells so good I don’t know if I will be able to share it :)
The very first thing I ever baked with zucchini was a chocolate cake from KAF, and I expected it to be gross, but it was amazing. I bet this bread is just as good, I’m so excited to make it!!
I made this today. Delicious! It came out a little overdone even though I didn’t even bake for the minimum amount of time as indicated in the recipe – all thanks to my electric oven. :( Any suggestions on baking in an electric oven?
Hi Quicha, I would recommend getting an oven thermometer so you can be sure of the exact temperature. Your oven might be set at 350, but the temperature could actually be 375 or even 400! Also, if you’re using a dark non-stick loaf pan, decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees (do this for any recipe where you’re using a dark non-stick pan).
This looks AMAZING!!!
This is quite similar to our family recipe — only we use dark chocolate – yum. I love how moist zucchini makes bread! We’re just starting zucchini season here & I’ll be looking forward to many loaves of bread.
I made this last night and its so good! My very picky 9yr old ate it up!
Looks delicious! I love the combination of chocolate and zucchini so I know I would love this!
I can’t wait to try this – I’ll just have to not mention the zucchini part to my hubby and daughter! Yummy:)
This is going on my list! Also wondered, have you tried making the Pumpkin Bread in the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated?
Hi April, I have not made it yet, but will definitely do so this fall!
I can’t get enough of zucchini bread… Or chocolate! This looks amazing!
I grew up on chocolate zucchini bread and LOVE it. I just made an apricot zucchini cake – sounds like another weird combo but works GREAT!
What a great way to get your daily veggies! And love that chocolate is involved. YUM.
oh yum! i could go for a slice right now!
I have several problems with zucchini and my kids. Why is so difficult for kids eat something green? I tried with muffins, breads, cupcakes, and no one give me a result. But what if I mixed it with chocolate? Who can resist to chocolate? Maybe that is the key. I will try with your recipe.
I’ve been looking for a go to chocolate zucchini bread recipe. This might be it!
I’ve never baked or tasted zucchini bread before! But something tells me I’m missing out. The deep and rich chocolate flavor of this bread has me sold!
Yum!! I love zucchini bread and chocolate never hurts! :)
Mmmm…I always end up making a few loaves with surplus zucchini. The double chocolate sounds perrrrrfect!
This looks fantastic! I love zucchini bread, and I love chocolate. Win!
I may or may not have 14 zucchini sitting on my counter right now.
Must make this!
I get email updates from King Arthur Flour and when I saw this recipe, I immediately had to try it. While, it was moist and a deep chocolate, it wasn’t sweet enough for me. It seemed a little bitter. I think it needed an addition of white sugar. Or, maybe I did something wrong.
Mmm perfect for breakfast!
I haven’t had zucchini bread in over a year, I have to make it!
I’m not sure if it was because I was raised with zucchini bread or not, but the minute it is mentioned, I’m ready to head to the kitchen.
Two of my favorites in one bread makes this even better. :)
This loaf looks positively scrumptious. I have never tried making OR eating chocolate and zucchini together! This is now on the top of my “must make” list. I will be posting the results on my blog soon. Please visit if you have a moment! Thank you!
http://www.onceuponacakery.ca
Oh my goodness!! Double chocolate zucchini bread is one of my favorite foods on the planet!! So glad you tried it!! I glaze mine with an orange glaze…out of this world! Thank you for the recipe, I love KAF!
This looks amazing!!!
I was just thinking about trying a zucchini bread today and I see this! I like the chocolate version :)
Sounds interesting. I’m not a big zucchini fan but the chocolate might be enough to convince me to try it.
I hope you already tried it, since we’re on the same road.
I baked it yesterday night and brought some slices to the office today. Total success!
I love zucchini in baked goods! Although…the chocolate part of this recipe is definitely what appeals to me most :)
OMG SAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE