Chocolate Zucchini Bread

You'll love this chocolate zucchini bread recipe! Packed with shredded zucchini and gooey chocolate chips, it's moist, fudgy, and delicious.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This double chocolate zucchini bread is moist, fudgy, and delicious. In the summertime, it’s my favorite way to satisfy a chocolate craving. It tastes just as decadent as a rich chocolate cake, but it’s made with healthier ingredients like whole wheat flour, maple syrup, and zucchini. Eating your vegetables has never tasted so good!

Like my classic zucchini bread recipe, this recipe makes two loaves. They disappear pretty quickly in our house, but if you have extra, pop one loaf in the freezer for another day, or share it with a friend! They (and you) will love this chocolate zucchini bread.

Chocolate zucchini bread recipe ingredients

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this double chocolate zucchini bread:

  • Flour – I use a mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. They give the bread a perfect moist crumb, plus a little whole grain power.
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder – It adds rich chocolate flavor to the batter.
  • Baking powder, baking soda, and eggs – They help the bread puff up as it bakes.
  • Maple syrup – Many chocolate zucchini bread recipes call for granulated sugar or brown sugar. I sweeten mine with maple syrup instead. It adds a subtle caramel-like flavor that I love.
  • Almond milk – For moisture. Oat milk, regular milk, and soy milk would all work well here too.
  • Vegetable oil or coconut oil – For moisture and richness.
  • Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor.
  • Zucchini – I grate mine on the largest holes of a box grater to get the best moist, zucchini-flecked texture!
  • Chocolate chips – You’ll fold some into the batter to add fudginess to the inside of the loaf. Then, you’ll sprinkle more on top.
  • And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Pouring dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients

How to Make Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This double chocolate zucchini bread recipe couldn’t be simpler to make! Here’s how it goes:

First, whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and gently stir to combine.

Hand using wooden spoon to fold chocolate chips into batter

Fold in the chocolate chips. Look how chocolatey that batter is!!

Hand sprinkling chocolate chips over chocolate zucchini bread batter in loaf pans

Pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean.

Place the pans on a wire rack, and allow the loaves to cool in the pan before digging in. So easy!

Double chocolate zucchini bread in loaf pan

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe Tips

  • Be careful not to overmix! As with all baking recipes that use wheat flour, overmixing the batter will make the bread dense. Stir until everything is just combined to get soft, moist, and puffy loaves.
  • Bake once, eat twice. This recipe makes two loaves of quick bread. They’ll keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, but they also freeze perfectly. I like to enjoy one right away and slice and freeze the other. To thaw a slice, let it sit out at room temperature for an hour or so, or pop it in the microwave for around 30 seconds.
  • Try changing it up! Swap half the chocolate chips for chopped walnuts, pecans, or dried tart cherries. Or, if you have it on hand, use yellow squash in place of the zucchini. Let me know what variations you try!

FAQs

Should you leave the skin on the zucchini when you make this chocolate zucchini bread?

I never peel zucchini when I make zucchini bread. The skin doesn’t affect the bread’s flavor, so I see peeling the zucchini as an unnecessary extra step.

Do you squeeze out the liquid from zucchini for bread?

Nope! While some zucchini bread recipes might ask you to squeeze out the zucchini’s excess moisture, I never will. Zucchini’s magic is that it makes baked goods super moist. We want all the moisture inside it to go into the bread! Simply grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater and add it straight to the batter.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

More Zucchini Recipes to Try

If you love this chocolate zucchini bread, try one of these delicious zucchini recipes next:

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Chocolate Zucchini Bread

rate this recipe:
4.93 from 83 votes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Serves 16 (makes 2 loaves)
You'll love this double chocolate zucchini bread recipe! Packed with shredded zucchini and gooey chocolate chips, it's super moist, fudgy, and delicious.

Ingredients

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup whole wheat flour
  • cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 large eggs
  • cups almond milk, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil
  • cup maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray two 8x4” loaf pans with nonstick spray.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond milk, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir in the zucchini. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops spring back to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

 

177 comments

4.93 from 83 votes (37 ratings without comment)

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  1. Anna
    01.07.2021

    I’ve made your chocolate zuchini muffins from your cookbook which turned our perfectly! However, when I followed this recipe it didn’t seem like there was enough cocoa powder because the loaves weren’t nearly as dark as the photograph depicts. I doubled the amount of cocoa powder the second time around and it looked more like the photograph (and the muffins I made previously).

  2. Jehan Marino
    10.31.2020

    Amazing recipe! I took the other reviewers comments in and replaced all purpose flour with almond flour. Made in 8 x 8 pan because I wanted just one bread.
    Delicious and moist! Will def make again!

  3. Elissa
    10.07.2020

    Amazing recipe!!! So moist and delicious. A great chocolate treat. I made 2dz muffins. Freezer friendly!
    Thank you for sharing !

  4. Johanna
    10.06.2020

    Quick question about the almond flour you use: does it still contain its oils? I have oil-free almond flour and until now found it very difficult to find recipes to bake with it…

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.06.2020

      Hi Johanna, I haven’t heard of oil-free almond flour. The type I use is made up of only ground up almonds… so there isn’t added oil, but almonds have fat in them.

      • Johanna
        10.06.2020

        Thanks for your reply! I was gifted some oil-free almond flour. Apparently, it’s used in low carb diet recipes. I’ll try your recipe anyway 😀

  5. Katheryn
    09.05.2020

    5 stars
    This is seriously delicious!! I used regular milk and avocado oil instead of coconut because of sensitivities and I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour so I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups regular pastry flour… despite the modifications it is so amazing, super moist and I will definitely make this again! P.s. don’t be scared by how liquid the batter is!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.12.2020

      Hi Katheryn, I’m so glad you loved it!

  6. Anna
    08.21.2020

    Do you have the nutritional value of this recipe or did I miss the information.

  7. Angelina
    08.13.2020

    5 stars
    Nice sharing, thank you so much

  8. Natasha
    08.13.2020

    5 stars
    These are INSANELY delicious. I am growing zuchinni and have so much squash right now…have been trying different recipes. This one hits it out the park. Thank you for sharing!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.30.2020

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  9. Julie
    08.03.2020

    5 stars
    This tastes amazing. I love that maple syrup is used instead of sugar. This is not super sweet tasting but rich in flavor. Saving this recipe as zucchini season is just starting.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.30.2020

      I’m so glad you loved the zucchini bread, thank you for sharing!

  10. Lisa
    07.28.2020

    Can I use a bundt pan? I don’t have 2 loaf pans.
    Thanks

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.28.2020

      Hi Lisa, I haven’t tested it in a bundt pan, so I’m not sure how it’ll go. It might be too moist to come out without falling apart. If you give it a try, definitely cook it longer than the loaf pan instructions. I’d highly recommend a loaf pan for success, or you could make them into muffins (I’d bake muffins for less time than the loaves).

  11. Liz
    07.23.2020

    5 stars
    This bread was absolutely delicious!! I used all unbleached regular flour (what I had on hand) and organic blue agave in place of maple syrup. Tonight I am making another batch with blueberries in place of the chocolate chips!

  12. Lata
    07.23.2020

    Hi,
    Can I sub soy milk for the almond milk?

  13. Erica Green
    07.22.2020

    5 stars
    Just made a mini loaf and 12 muffins. So very delicious and moist. 10/10!

  14. Martha
    05.20.2020

    5 stars
    Hey! That’s super delicious, I have a sweet tooth and I can’t stop drooling over this.

    • Sophia
      09.23.2020

      What is the nutritional value per serv5?

  15. Winnie Maina
    04.26.2020

    Delicious and healthy . Kids like this

  16. Karine
    04.05.2020

    5 stars
    It’s delicious and easy to make!! A really delicious bread

  17. Laurie
    03.27.2020

    What can I substitute if I don’t have (can’t find) whole wheat PASTRY flour?
    Thank you.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.29.2020

      Hi Laurie, I’d do a 50/50 mix of AP and whole wheat to replicate the lightness of whole wheat pastry. Hope that helps!

  18. Dani
    01.30.2020

    Just made these, but instead of using the white flour I used almond meal instead. I also used a food processor to puree the zucchini since my kids helped and love pressing the buttons. OMGGGGGG I can’t stop eating these!!! So delicious 🙂

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      02.03.2020

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it with almond flour!

  19. december
    11.25.2019

    5 stars
    I just made the classic chocolate zucchini bread and I am so happy to say it was the easiest and the most moist bread i have ever made. It really was so good. Thank you for sharing it with me. I am throwing away my old recipe that i used to use.

  20. Olivia Belle
    09.25.2019

    5 stars
    This recipe is so good. You would think i used regular flour and sugar for this. So tasty.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.