Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This rich Chocolate Zucchini Bread is moist, deeply chocolatey, and completely irresistible! This zucchini bread also uses better-for-you ingredients — less sugar than most zucchini bread, Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, coconut oil, blended-up oats, and of course, grated zucchini.

Try some other popular zucchini quick breads like this Lemon Zucchini Bread or Healthy Zucchini Bread.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

You are going to love how indulgent-tasting this chocolate zucchini bread is — especially when considering all the great nutrient-filled ingredients we’re loading into this bread. While there is still a good amount of sugar, it’s a fraction of what other recipes contain. We’re also using tons of other healthier ingredient swaps — dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips (healthy fats and antioxidants –yeah!), protein-packed Greek yogurt, oats in place of some of the flour, coconut oil, and — of course– let’s not forget we’re adding veggies to this bread in the form of zucchini!  

Check out the next section for some helpful ingredient notes and suggestions before heading to the grocery store! 🙂

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe Ingredient Notes

• Hershey’s Special Dark® Cocoa Powder contributes the deep and intense chocolate flavor in this chocolate zucchini bread. I highly recommend using a Dutch-process cocoa powder as opposed to a plain (natural) cocoa powder. Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder is readily available at most grocery stores.
• Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt adds protein, moistness, and tons of flavor to this bread. Our favorite yogurt to use is Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt (made by Greek Gods®). I don’t recommend a low fat or non-Greek yogurt in this bread– it won’t turn out the same. While plain Greek yogurt works, the flavored yogurt adds so much additional flavor to this Chocolate Zucchini Bread without extra ingredients.
• Chocolate chips. Any type of chocolate chip works — semi-sweet, milk, dark, or chopped up chocolate. We use dark chocolate to keep this bread on the nutritious side.
• Coconut oil. Make sure to measure the oil when it’s melted (not in the hardened state). Allow ample time for the coconut oil and chocolate mixture to cool down so it’s not hot when added to the other wet ingredients. If it’s added in hot, it can cause the ingredients to seize up.
• Zucchini. For this bread, we use zucchini that has been grated on the small side of the grater for fine zucchini shreds. No need to peel the zucchini first or squeeze out excess moisture — we rely on that added moisture in this bread. I don’t recommend grating zucchini on the large holes of a grater for this particular recipe.

How Do You Make Chocolate Zucchini Bread?

1. Preparation: Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal. Parchment paper helps in the effortless release of bread after baking.
2. Wet Ingredients: In a bowl, combine Greek yogurt, honey, and brown sugar until smooth. Lightly pack the brown sugar to maintain the right sweetness level.
3. Chocolate and Coconut Oil: Melt chocolate chips with coconut oil, then blend into the wet mix. Melt chocolate in short intervals to prevent it from burning.
4. Dry Ingredients: Stir together oat flour, cocoa powder, baking agents, and salt in another bowl.
5. Combine: Mix wet and dry ingredients gently, then fold in grated zucchini and extra chocolate chips Mix until just combined to keep the bread light and fluffy.
6. Bake: Pour batter into the pan, baking until a toothpick inserted comes out clean but moist.
7. Cool and Serve: Allow to cool before slicing to minimize crumbling. Use a serrated knife for a clean cut through the moist bread.

What is oat flour?

Oat flour is basically just powdered (blended) oats. It adds a great texture, a unique flavor, and a nutritious aspect to Chocolate Zucchini Bread. No need to go buy oat flour; oats blend up in seconds.

How to make oat flour in 30 seconds or less: All you do is blend regular old-fashioned oats (or quick oats)in a blender until they resemble regular flour. I’ve used $20 blenders and my high-powered Blendtec® and both will do the trick just fine. 

Baking Tips

• Don’t overmix. If you mix the batter too much, you’ll end up with a dense loaf. Mix until ingredients are just combined and then pop it in the bread pan and bake! 
• Generously grease the bread pan.  I like to grease the pan with nonstick spray and then lightly dust with flour. There are few things as frustrating as trying to invert a loaf and having it fall apart or stick to the bottom! Take your time to generously grease the pan or line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy bread removal.
• Cool baked bread on a wire rack. Run a table knife along the edge of the pan and invert the loaf onto the wire rack. Chocolate Zucchini Bread needs to be elevated so air can circulate around all sides as it cools. Otherwise, moisture will condense on the bottom of the bread, making it damp and slightly sticky.
• Use the right size pan. We use an 8.5 x 4.5-inch bread pan for this recipe; it doesn’t bake up the same in other-sized pans.

How To Know When Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread Is Done

It can be tricky to know when quick bread is fully baked. There are a lot of variables in baking zucchini bread such as altitude, humidity, actual oven temperature, bread pan used, etc. Here are a few cues to look for and tips to keep in mind:

• Preventing underbaked zucchini bread: Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated; wait for the oven to fully preheat before adding the bread to the oven and position the loaf in the center of the oven.
• Visual cues for doneness: Bread has pulled away slightly from the edges of the pan.
• Physical cue for doneness: A toothpick (or fork) inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean or with a couple of moist (not wet) crumbs. 

Storage

Savory ways to use leftover zucchini

• Mexican Zucchini Boats low carb, high protein meal
• Zucchini Pasta Sauce tossed with spaghetti noodles
• Zucchini Boats with Italian sausage
• Italian Sausage and Veggies in just one pan
• Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Zucchini made in one pan

SaveSaved Pin Print

4.88 from 8 votes

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

By Chelsea Lords

With nutritious ingredients and simple preparation, this rich Chocolate Zucchini Bread is unbeatable!

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1/2 cup honey vanilla Greek yogurt
• ▢ 2 tablespoons honey
• ▢ 1/2 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
• ▢ 1/3 + 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, divided
• ▢ 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/3 cup oat flour (just blend regular oats in a blender -- Note 1)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder recommended: Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1 cup white flour (or use white-whole wheat)
• ▢ Heaping 3/4 cup lightly packed and finely grated zucchini
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions 

• PREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour an 8 1/2- by-4 1/2 inch pan or line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal. Grate zucchini on the small holes of a grater. Measure and set aside.
• WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, honey, and brown sugar until smooth.
  
• CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT OIL: In another small microwave-safe bowl place 1/3 cup (62g) chocolate chips. Melt the coconut oil and measure the oil after being melted. Pour the melted coconut oil over the chocolate chips and stir. Microwave in bursts of 15 seconds, stirring for 20 seconds in between each burst until chocolate is fully melted and smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature and then use a spatula to scrape every bit into the Greek yogurt mixture. Stir to combine. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.
  
• DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl, stir together the oat flour (Note 1), cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch. Add in the white or white-whole wheat flour. Add in the remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips (118g). Stir the dry ingredients together.
  
• COMBINE: Add the dry to the wet. Mix in the zucchini. Gently stir until just combined. Over-mixing will result in dense bread or a sunken center.
  
• BAKE: Use a spatula to scrape every bit of the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top into an even layer. Top with a few more chocolate chips if desired. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted into the center comes out with dry or moist (not wet) crumbs. The bread should also be pulling slightly away from the sides. Be careful to not over-bake, it will yield a much drier, less-tasty zucchini bread.
  
• ENJOY: Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Allow to completely cool before cutting into the bread -- otherwise, it's pretty crumbly! Cut with a very sharp, serrated knife. Best enjoyed the same day -- see "Storage" notes below.
• STORAGE: This bread stores 1-2 days at normal room temperature (wrapped tightly/stored in an airtight container). After 3-4 days, this bread is more prone to molding because of the ingredients used and the overall moistness of the bread. Warm refrigerated (unwrapped) slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Freeze any leftover slices for up to 3 months (individually wrapped and then in another zip-top bag). To thaw, set out wrapped slices at room temperature for about an hour. Warm leftover slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds before enjoying. Add a slather of peanut butter for a fun flavor variation!

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Oat flour: I use regular old-fashioned or quick oats and quickly pulse them in a blender or food processor until they resemble flour. Then, measure and add to the bowl (the measurement should be taken after the oats are blended, not before).

honey vanilla Greek yogurt

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 313kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 259mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 51IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!