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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.

sliced zucchini bread


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.

Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!

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

  1. Combine the oil, both sugars, egg, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add the cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder and mix to combine. You can also whisk the dry ingredients separately.
  3. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients.
  4. Then fold in the zucchini and the chocolate chips and mix.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Bake the bread for 45 to 55 minutes.
  6. Cool the chocolate zucchini bread for at least ten minutes before slicing it.
overhead shot of sliced zucchini bread

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!
overhead shot of sliced zucchini bread

Why did my quick bread fall after baking?

There could be a few reasons why your bread collapsed:

  • Did you measure the ingredients correctly? Too much liquid in the batter can cause the bread to sink in the middle when it cools.
  • Don’t let the batter sit around too long before baking it. As soon as you’ve made it, it’s best to get that loaf into the oven. If the batter sits too long, the leavening agents lose their effectiveness.
  • Did you bake it long enough? If you take the chocolate zucchini bread out of the oven too soon the center will not be done, causing the loaf to sink. So, always do the toothpick test – once it comes out with just a few crumbs, it’s done. If there is batter on it, leave the bread in the oven.
stacked zucchini bread slices

FAQs

How do you know zucchini bread is done?

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.

What cocoa is best for zucchini bread?

The best cocoa for this recipe is unsweetened cocoa powder. I haven’t tested it with Dutch-process cocoa powder.

Can you make muffins with this recipe?

Yes it will make approximately 12 muffins. Bake time approximately 15-20 minutes.

Can you make gluten-free zucchini bread?

You can easily make this gluten free by swapping the flour with 1:1 Gluten Free AP flour.

overhead shot of sliced zucchini bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

4.75 from 4 votes
A classic double chocolate quick bread recipe with zucchini – the perfect breakfast or brunch!

Recipe Video

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield 10 servings
Serving Size 1 serving
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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)
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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 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

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 195mg | Potassium: 184mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 86IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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We also love homemade monkey bread!

Other Quick Breads & Muffins



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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4.75 from 4 votes (1 rating without comment)

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45 Comments

  1. Love, love, love zucchini bread. I cannot imagine how much better it can get by adding a chocolate swirl, yum! I will have to make sure I get extra zucchini this week at the market. Pinned!

    Hope you enjoy reading Harry Potter, I know I have. 🙂

    Reply

  2. I actually just bought zucchini at TJ’s last week (best place for off-season produce!) because I had a craving! I, uhh, already used it all up, but I was thinking about buying more to bake zucchini muffins. And then reconsidered because I thought people would call me weird for posting a zucchini recipe during the fall. But hey, great minds think alike, right?? 🙂

    And I’m one of those people who LOVES Harry Potter! My family owns all of the books, and starting around the 4th, I read the entire novel the day it came out. I can never put them down! I really hope you like them as much as the Twilight series!

    Reply

    1. Thanks Amy! I know, I wondered if I should post it, but hey. It’s good, and I can’t be the only one with 12 cups of shredded zucchini in the freezer!

      Reply

      1. I always use lots of spices in my zucchini bread — especially cinnamon and nutmeg — which I associate with fall. Therefore, zucchini bread should be a fall treat too! 😉

  4. LOL about you loving the books so much. I have read them all once, only because I really read books twice. I have seen the movies several times though. I don’t mind K.S. I love putting on a movie I’ve seen already and then I can bake, clean or do laundry. You will love the HP books. If you get a chance you should listen to the books on tape for HP. The voice of the reader is AMAZING.

    Reply