You'll love this chocolate zucchini bread recipe! Packed with shredded zucchini and gooey chocolate chips, it's moist, fudgy, and delicious.
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 packed with shredded 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.
Quick note: I recently re-tested and updated this recipe to give it a lighter texture, simplify the ingredients, and use even MORE zucchini! I love the results, but if you’d like to make the old version, you can find it in the recipe notes at the bottom of this post.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this double chocolate zucchini bread:
- All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- 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.
- Sugar – For sweetness. Granulated sugar and cane sugar both work well here. You could even use brown sugar for richer depth of flavor!
- Vegetable 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.
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.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Look how chocolatey that batter is!!
Evenly divide the batter between two greased loaf pans (if you like, you can also line them with parchment paper for easy removal and cleanup!). Sprinkle with more chocolate chips, then 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!
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. Like the bananas in banana bread, 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.
More Zucchini Recipes to Try
If you love this chocolate zucchini bread, try one of these delicious zucchini recipes next:
- Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Zucchini Muffins
- Zucchini Brownies
- Or any of these 30 Best Zucchini Recipes!
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 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 flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the zucchini. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. The batter will be fairly thick—that's ok. Don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared loaf pans and use a spatula to smooth the top. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips and bake for 40 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.
Notes
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ⅓ 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
- 1½ cups almond milk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- ⅔ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling
Do you think this would work as muffins?
Hi Jill, I think so! I’m not sure what the yield would be, but I’d bake at 400°F and start checking around 15 minutes.
I made this as muffins! I got exactly 26 muffins out of the full recipe, and they were just done at 20 minutes. My two littles (3 and 6) are picky about “stuff” in their food (i.e. won’t eat blueberry muffins even though they love blueberries and muffins separately) but they loved these!!
Forgot to mention – “just done at 20 minutes” when I had all 3 muffin pans in the oven at once.
I’m glad they loved them!
Could you use all whole wheat flour in the original
recipe and in the newl
Hi Donna, I think that would work, but the bread will have a denser texture. You may want to add an extra splash of milk to account for the additional moisture the whole wheat flour will absorb.
Can you sub non-gluten flour in this recipe?
thanks! mjs
Hi mjs, yes! I think a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend would work well here. King Arthur is my go-to.
Is there an alternative milk that could be substituted for the almond milk? We have a nut allergy in the house!
Hi KR, you can use any type of milk you like! Skim, 2%, whole, soy, oat… They’d all work here.
Do you have the nutrition info for this recipe? Thanks!
I’m sorry, we don’t post nutrition facts but you can plug the ingredients into an online nutrition calculator.
Delicious!!
So glad you loved it, Mary!
Hi, I don’t have any maple syrup on hand. Is it possible to substitute honey? Thank you.
Have you ever tried substituting green(underripe) butternut squash for zucchini? I’m looking for a recipe to use some of the butternut that will not have anywhere enough time to ripen before frost. My concern is that it may not have as high of a moisture content as zucchini but flavor should be the same.
Hi Pat, wow, great question! I’ve never cooked with green butternut squash, so I’m not sure how it would work here. It does likely have less moisture than zucchini. If you try it, you could loosen the batter with 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk if needed.
Can you substitute any of the flours for oat flour? I am already planning to substitute the all purpose for a gluten free flour, but I’m always hoping to minimize the amount of GF flour because it’s somewhat nutritionally void. Any advice and measurements are appreciated! Thanks!
Hi Sarah, I wouldn’t recommend using oat flour here. We’ve tested it in many baking recipes over the years and have never found it to be a great 1 to 1 substitute for another type of flour. I haven’t tried this, but using part almond flour or buckwheat flour might work. I’d start with 2 cups GF flour and 1/2 cup almond or buckwheat and see how that goes. Hope this helps!
Should I strain the shredded zucchini or keep all the moisture from the zucchini?
Hi Genny, no need to strain or squeeze! The moisture from the zucchini makes this bread super moist.
Hi, I don’t have 2 8×4” loaf pans, I just have one that’s a bit bigger – it’s 12×4. Would you recommend I just cut everything by a third? Thanks!
Hi Eva, hmmm yes, the math might be tricky, but reducing the recipe by a third or a quarter should yield a good-sized loaf in a 12×4″ pan.
Thank you!!! I had ChatGPT re-calculate the amounts and it turned out perfectly moist and not too sweet – absolutely delicious! 🙂
You can mould few layers of foil inside larger pan and shape it to size you want that’s what I do when I don’t have correct size pans grease it then discard when unneeded less washing up:)
Or…use the additional batter to make a few muffins.
This looks delicious! Could I substitute the coconut oil for something else like olive oil or butter, or is it completely necessary? Thanks 🙂
Hi Anna, you could use melted butter or vegetable oil instead.
Is there nutritional information available for the recipes?
Hi Marge, we don’t calculate nutrition facts for our recipes unfortunately, but you could use an online nutrition calculator to get an estimate.
I made this recipe but used stevia milk chocolate chips and White chocolate chips. I put one cup of pecans in this recipe and put white chocolate chips on top and it turned out great. Love this recipe.
Sounds delicious, Barbara! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Can I do this same recipe as muffins? 🙂
Hi Whitney, you could! I think it would make about 15-18 muffins. I’d start checking them after 15 minutes in the oven, though they could take up to 20. Hope you enjoy!
I love this recipe! My daughter discovered it and I’ve made it three times in the past month. And sent it to friends who also love it. It is my new go to zucchini recipe. Thank you!
What are the nutritional values?
My loaves stuck so badly to my pans that I can’t send the bread as a birthday treat to my granddaughter.
Satisfied my chocolate craving and sweet tooth! Preferred it heated up for chocolatey goodness. … 1 slice. 214 calories. (8g F/33g C/ 4g P) I followed the recipe exactly and calculated macros in MyFitnessPal.
Hi, I tried this recipe for the first time the other day and was very disappointed as the loaves fell after they came out of the oven. I did add walnuts along with the chocolate chips, but the only thing I really can think of is maybe it was the cocoa powder. The recipe did not specify natural or processed Dutch cocoa, so I used what I had – the Dutch processed cocoa powder. I previously read that it makes a difference between the two because of the chemistry of the baking powder and baking soda from one kind of cocoa to another.
Hi Elle, it may have been that the loaves needed an extra few minutes in the oven. They can sometimes fall when they’re slightly underbaked. Because this recipe has both baking soda and baking powder, I don’t think the cocoa powder would have made the difference.