Chocolate Zucchini Bread
This classic recipe for ultra moist chocolate zucchini bread has a dark chocolate flavor and is laced with walnuts. Perfect for gifting, a quick breakfast, or an easy dessert!
This post contains affiliate links. Read the disclosure policy.
Table of Contents
About Chocolate Zucchini Bread
I’m finally jumping on the baking with zucchini bandwagon, and I’m kicking it off the best way I know how:
With chocolate zucchini bread.
However, now that I’ve nailed down a recipe that I like… I’m not exactly sure what to do with it.
Because really, with sweet bread like this – is it a dessert? Should I have it for breakfast? Or can I do both?
I mean, I’ll gladly exercise my adulthood and have a slice of this bread at any time of day, but I’m always curious what the proper etiquette is when offering it to friends or family.
But then again, I can’t imagine that anyone would complain about starting (or ending) their day with a slice of this chocolate goodness.
Is chocolate zucchini bread healthy?
While zucchini bread isn’t exactly “healthy”, it can be a healthier alternative, depending on your diet and what you’re hoping to achieve.
For example, if you’re looking to eat more veggies, baking with zucchini is an easy way to sneak some in. Plus, a properly stored baked good might outlive the shelf life of some green veggies, so you can get a little more bang for your buck that way, too.
But beyond that, you might be wondering:
Why use zucchini at all? It’s not like you can taste it in the bread, right?
And it’s true, you can’t taste the zucchini in baked goods, but that’s not why you bake with it.
You bake with it because of the texture and moisture it brings.
When using zucchini, you can usually cut down or eliminate other liquid ingredients (such as milk or oil). That can go a long way in suiting certain dietary needs.
Take this recipe for example. While it does still include some oil, it doesn’t have any dairy, which effectively makes this bread dairy free.
Can you freeze chocolate zucchini bread?
Yes, you totally can!
When properly stored, zucchini bread will keep it’s “best” quality for about two or three months. After that point, the texture of the bread might change, but it will remain good for up to six months frozen.
More great chocolate recipes
Notes & tips for this zucchini bread recipe
- For this recipe, I highly recommend using a stand mixer or a hand mixer.
- Also be sure you have a 9×5 bread loaf pan.
- And if you plan to do a lot of baking with zucchini, I recommend picking up a food grater.
How do you make chocolate zucchini bread?
This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.
Step 1 – In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients except sugar (so flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, cloves, and allspice, then mix them up.
Step 2 – Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), mix the sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla until the egg is broken and creamy.
Step 3 – Add in the zucchini (with the juices!) and mix again until combined.
Step 4 – Slowly mix the dry ingredients in with the wet, adding about 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until nice and smooth.
Step 5 – Turn off the mixer and toss in the walnuts. Use a spatula to gently fold them into the batter.
Step 6 – Spray a 9×5 bread loaf pan with cooking spray, then pour the chocolate zucchini bread inside.
Step 7 – Bake!
Step 8 – Slice and enjoy!
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated zucchini, reserving any juice
- 2 egg
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x5 bread loaf pan with baking spraybaking spray, then set aside.
- Grate zucchini over a small bowl; be sure to reserve any juice. Once you have one packed cup, set zucchini aside.1 cup grated zucchini
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, and allspice. Set aside.1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 pinch ground cloves, 1 pinch ground allspice
- Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), beat sugar, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla together on medium speed until egg is broken up and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 egg, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Turn off mixer; add zucchini and liquid to batter, then blend on low speed until incorporated, about another 1-2 minutes.
- Keeping mixer speed on low, slowly blend in dry ingredients, about 1/2 up at a time. Mix until dry ingredients incorporate and there are minimal clumps, about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove bowl from mixer. Pour in walnuts and use a spatula to gently fold them into the batter.1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Batter should be thin enough that it settles easily within the pan. If not, tap the tap a few times on the counter to even it out and release any air bubbles.
- Bake bread for 60 minutes or until a tester toothpick comes out clean.
- Let bread cool for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I'm not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.
