I don’t have the garden space to grow zucchini. Seriously, have you seen how big those plants get? But luckily I have a neighbor who will trade zucchini for peaches (as you may recall, I recently bought 50 pounds of peaches). And as much as I enjoy sautéed or grilled zucchini, I have to admit that my first thought upon receiving a fresh garden zucchini is zucchini bread.
This recipe is a riff on my mom’s zucchini bread recipe, which I grew up eating. I cut the oil in half and the sugar by a quarter, subbed in white whole wheat flour, and stirred in plain yogurt for extra moistness. And most importantly, I added cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
When I made this Fudgy Chocolate Zucchini Bread last week for my family, we ended up eating the entire loaf in a day. Which I am not proud of. But which goes to show how irresistible it is.
For another spin, check out Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Crunchy Sunflower Seed Topping.
Fudgy Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt, I used Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips + 2 tablespoons
- 1 1/2 cups shredded fresh zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a loaf pan (or use cooking spray).
- Combine eggs, yogurt, and oil in a mixing bowl and blend well. Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder and blend. Batter will be thick.
- Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips and zucchini and stir until well combined.
- Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chocolate chips on top of loaf. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set pan on a wire rack and let rest for 15 minutes. Slide a knife around the edges to loosen loaf from pan. Carefully turn out loaf onto wire rack and cool.
Notes
To make muffins instead: Line muffin tin with paper liners. Spoon batter into muffin cups, about 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with reserved chips. Bake 15-20 minutes or until muffin springs back when gently pressed. Makes about 16 muffins.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 slices Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 167Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 230mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 3gSugar: 16gProtein: 6g
Hi! I'm Sally, a dietitian-mom.
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Julie Harrington says
I just made a zucchini bread.. but not a chocolate zucchini bread!! .. pinning!
Sally says
Julie–Hope you love it!
Tali says
Oh man, I made this and it rocked my world! The chocolate chips really seal the deal, especially when they’re all warm and melty. I took a pic of it fresh out of the oven: https://i.gyazo.com/ba479b9e51a3178707bced4efa126e14.png
It tasted just as good as it looked!! Thanks for the awesome recipe, the whole family loved it!
Sally says
Tali–I’m so glad to hear this!!! 🙂
Erin says
Could coconut oil be used?
Sally says
Erin–I haven’t tried it with coconut oil but you could certainly give it a shot!
Nicole says
This is the best recipe! My husband prefers this over brownies or chocolate cake. I used butter instead of oil. A loaf does not last long after it comes out of the oven. My boys begged me to pack them a slice for their school snack.
Sally says
Oh yay! That is great to hear. Thanks so much for letting me know. A loaf doesn’t last long in our house either. 🙂
Stacey Mattinson says
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try. I’ll have to whip this up this weekend! (PS – If watching kcals I think the nutrition facts at the bottom might be off – it should be 66 g fat total (oil + eggs + chips) for the recipe so 5.5 g per slice and brings kcals way down from 400!)
Sally says
Stacey–Thank you for pointing that out–yes, that nutrition information was incorrect! I analyzed it again and put the updated numbers in. Sorry about that!
Laura says
Hi Sally!
I’ve been wanting to try chocolate zucchini bread for the longest time now, (I was hoping it’d be a way to get my boys to eat their veggies), and this looks like the perfect introduction recipe! I’ve only had zucchini bread once before and it was good, but chocolate zucchini bread just sounds ridiculously good!
Anyways, I run a site of my own and wrote an article about healthy Easter basket ideas, and linked to your zucchini bread recipe in it! Here’s the link if you want to check it out!
https://gatheredagain.com/healthy-non-candy-easter-basket-ideas/
Thanks for the delicious looking recipe, can’t wait to try it!
Laura
Sheila Weiss says
I made these in muffin format this weeekend, and they have been breakfast for my “selective” 6 year old each morning since. This morning she told me I make the best muffins and asked me to make more. You’ve done it again, Sally! Thank you. I’m off to buy more zucchini.
Sally says
Sheila–that’s wonderful to hear. I’m so glad she likes them. 🙂
Elaine says
Hi, Could you add European measurements please, especially for the quantity of zucchini?
Thanks in advance
Really looking forward to trying these…your picky eater series has been working zo well in our house
Sally says
Hi Elaine–I’m so glad the picky eating series has been helpful for you! Okay, so I happened to have some shredded zucchini in the fridge so I measured out the 1/2 cups of zucchini and weighed it on my kitchen scale. It was about 3.8 ounces, which looks to be 107 grams. That zucchini was a bit dried-out, since it had been in the fridge for a bit, but that might give you a rough idea? Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Chandra says
My kids (and I) absolutely love this bread!!
Kyle Adams says
Thanks for this – I tried it out today and it’s not half bad! I had always been trying to stay away from sweets but not anymore. I used to eat “healthy” but I’ve always had a yo-yo problem…..I’m currently Kindle reading this amazing book called Struggle Buster which advocates eating that which you grew up eating even if its deemed carb or fat heavy (which in my case includes zucchini, go figure:) )…seems to be working so far! Many thanks and keep up the great work 🙂 Cheers – Kyle.
Maria says
Can you substitute the eggs with flax eggs?
Sally says
Hi Maria–I haven’t tested it that way but suspect it would work!