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When it’s zucchini season you need to make this Chocolate Zucchini Bread! It’s an easy quick bread recipe that’s moist, soft, and super chocolatey. It’s also freezer-friendly – and the perfect breakfast or snack or dessert.
Have you ever thought to turn zucchini bread chocolate? This is a seriously easy chocolate bread that is the best way to use up zucchini before it goes bad. The shredded zucchini keeps the bread moist, while the cocoa powder and chocolate chips make it super chocolatey!
Why You’ll Love Chocolate Zucchini Bread
It’s a quick bread recipe – a one bowl zucchini bread with double the chocolate. You don’t taste the zucchini – it’s really there for moisture. The bread freezes perfectly, either as slices or the entire loaf, so it’s great to make ahead. You can use freshly grated zucchini or frozen – so it’s perfect all year long.
Ingredients Needed
- Vegetable oil: You can also use canola oil or melted coconut oil.
- Sugars: I like to use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar to keep the bread moist.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Regular is best, not dutch processed cocoa.
- All-purpose flour: Be sure to measure flour correctly.
- Shredded zucchini: Shred it yourself – there is no need to ring it out.
- Chocolate chips: Use regular or mini chips! Or trade out the chips for chopped nuts, or use half and half.
Recipe Swap: Gluten Free Bread
Oh, and there’s one more thing to love about this recipe – you can make it gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread. Use your favorite 1:1 gluten-free flour!
How to make Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Combine the oil, both sugars, egg, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder and mix to combine. You can also whisk the dry ingredients separately.
- Stir the flour into the wet ingredients.
- Then fold in the zucchini and the chocolate chips and mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Bake the bread for 45 to 55 minutes.
- Cool the chocolate zucchini bread for at least ten minutes before slicing it.
Expert Tips & Variations
- Add some strawberries or raspberries to make a chocolate version of my blueberry zucchini bread.
- You can easily turn this into 12 zucchini muffins by lining muffin pans with liners.
- You don’t want your zucchini to be too wet or it will cause too much moisture in your bread. Normally freshly grated zucchini is just fine, but if you’re using thawed frozen zucchini or your freshly grated seems extra wet, just pat it dry with paper towels.
- Store at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap.
- You can freeze the whole loaf or freeze slices in sandwich bags.
- I like to use an 8×4” loaf pan for this recipe because the bread gets a nice dome. You can use a 9×5” loaf pan, but the bread will have a flatter top.
- Still have some zucchini left over? Make zucchini brownies!
FAQs
You know the zucchini bread is done once you insert a toothpick in the center of the bread and it comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
The best cocoa for this recipe is unsweetened cocoa powder. I haven’t tested it with Dutch-process cocoa powder.
Yes it will make approximately 12 muffins. Bake time approximately 15-20 minutes.
You can easily make this gluten free by swapping the flour with 1:1 Gluten Free AP flour.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup (124g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (152g) shredded zucchini
- 1 cup (170g) chocolate chips (plus more for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla to a large bowl. Stir to mix.
- Add cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Stir in flour, then fold in zucchini. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with additional chocolate chips. Bake until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs from the center of the bread, about 45-55 minutes.
- Cool at least 10 minutes before slicing. Store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- This recipe hasn’t been tested with dutch process cooca, so use regular unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Swap chocolate chips with chopped nuts, or add ½ cup chopped nuts in addition to the chocolate chips in the bread.
- If you use a 9×5-inch loaf pan the bread will be flatter and not as domed, but it works just fine.
- Freezing instructions: Wrap tightly in plastic and freeze for up to 3 months, or freeze slices in sandwich bags for grab and go.
Recipe Nutrition
We also love homemade monkey bread!
Very easy recipe and tasted great. Everyone loves it.
Awesome, moist and delicious
Very good! Chocolatey goodness. Added cherries and pecans and used non-gluten flour. All worked well and I will make it again!
Fantastic chocolatey goodness. Super moist. Is it a bread or a dessert? Works either way. Huge hit with my family!
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