Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This moist chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread is loaded with cocoa powder and chocolate chips for serious chocolate flavor. IBakes in about an hour and is the perfect way to use up all that zucchini!

 

Extra chocolate balanced with veggies.

I’m always so excited for my garden to start producing zucchini for me, but a few weeks later I’m horrified. What have I done? How am I supposed to go through 33 ripe zucchini in one day? Whyyyyyy did I do this to myself?

Enter my chocolate zucchini bread – loaded with both cocoa powder and chocolate chips so you get extra chocolate in every bite.

Don’t worry…this doesn’t taste like chocolate vegetable bread. The zucchini just melts into the bread and makes things nice and moist without adding any flavor. A nice little boost of veggies so you can feel good about what is basically a slice of cake with your morning coffee. 😆

Also, this recipe makes TWO loaves, which I love. One for me, one to share. I smuggled one in my purse to a restaurant the other day to gift to my parents.

3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe

🍫 Double chocolate flavor – Cocoa powder mixed into the batter plus a generous layer of chocolate chips means you get double the chocolate.

🥒 Saves you from too much zucchini – One recipe uses 2 cups shredded zucchini, which is perfect for when you’ve got a garden overflowing or a farmers market haul to tackle.

🎁 One to gift, one to keep – This recipe makes two loaves. Enjoy yours with coffee in the mornings and gift another to your neighbor.

Ingredients, Swaps, & Tips:

Bread – You’ll prepare the chocolate zucchini bread batter with a mix of sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Zucchini – I make this when the garden is overflowing, but it works great with store-bought zucchini too. You can even swap in yellow summer squash if that’s what you have on hand.

Peeling the zucchini: Totally optional. If you leave the peel on, you’ll see green flecks in the bread, but the flavor and texture are still great. Peeling just makes it more “invisible” if you have picky eaters.

Chocolate swap: Use dark chocolate chips or a mix of dark and milk chocolate for deeper flavor. Peanut butter chips are also a fun swap if you want chocolate peanut butter zucchini bread.

Moisture issues: The batter will be thick before you add zucchini. It might even seem too thick, but just trust the process. The zucchini is going to release a lot of liquid as it bakes. If it seems too thick to stir, don’t add liquid—let the zucchini do its job.

Helpful Tools:

Food Processor – For shredding the zucchini! A food processor is probably the quickest and easiest way to do this.

Box Grater – If you don’t have a food processor, a box grater will also work well for shredding the zucchini!

Loaf Pans – I use these ceramic loaf pans mostly just because I think they’re pretty. Metal or glass work as well, though you may need to adjust the baking time a bit.

Step by Step:

Stir together the dry ingredients in one bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a second bowl.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

Stir in the shredded zucchini. The batter will be very thick.

Pour the batter into 2 greased loaf pans and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top before baking.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

How To Tell When Zucchini Bread Is Done:

This can be tricky because you certainly don’t want to over-bake your bread, but if you under-bake, it will fall in the center and not taste or look so great. 

I use the time in the recipe as a guide and start checking my bread with a toothpick 5 minutes before the recipe calls for.

Because this recipe has chocolate chips on top, just be sure to poke your toothpick down in a place that isn’t covered by chocolate chips.

Your toothpick should have a a few moist crumbs attached, but should not have any raw/wet batter on it.

Storage & Freezing:

Counter: Wrap tightly and store for 1–2 days.

Refrigerator: Wrapped loaves keep for up to a week in the fridge.

Freezer: Slice your cooled bread, wrap individual slices tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw slices on the counter for before eating.

FAQ:

I hope you’ll give this recipe a try and let me know you like it. Y’all just LOVED my chocolate banana bread recipe, so I have a feeling this one will be a hit too. Be sure to give this sweet bread recipe a try too – it makes cute little gifts!

• Zucchini Carrot Bread
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
• Zucchini Pineapple Bread
• Chocolate Zucchini Cake
• Zucchini Pizza Boats
• Air Fryer Zucchini Chips
• Zucchini Tomato Tarts

If you like this recipe, please leave a comment and be sure to rate the recipe below! 🙂