Like my chocolate zucchini cake, this moist and fudge-like double chocolate zucchini bread raises a huge question: How on earth is there a vegetable in THIS?! Readers have loved this recipe for years, and it’s on my menu all summer long when zucchini is plentiful.
One reader, Kristin, commented: “I never review recipes, but had to write one for this one. This bread, cake, dessert—whatever you want to call it—is fabulous! Just the right amount of sweet, chocolate, and is perfectly moist. I have made it for different people (just in the last two weeks because I can’t stop thinking about it) and everyone has loved it. I made no substitutions to anything and it was perfect… ★★★★★”
I firmly believe that the biggest baking mistake one could ever make is… not doubling today’s recipe. After 1 slice, you’ll instantly realize you need far more than 1 loaf of this chocolate bliss. With its moist and rich fudge-like crumb, deep chocolate flavor, and melty chocolate chips inside, it’s almost impossible to believe there’s zucchini in the batter.
One reader, Deb, commented: “Wow! I made this today and it is sooo good! Even my guys (who don’t want anything to do with zucchini) LOVED it! No one can believe there is shredded zucchini in it. One mistake I made—I only made one. ★★★★★“
Here’s What You’ll Love About This Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Batter comes together quickly and easily
- Sneaks in veggies (which, along with the Greek yogurt, make it one of my healthier dessert recipe ideas)
- Freezes well—make several loaves when zucchini is plentiful, and freeze for future chocolate cravings
- Use this recipe for muffins or cupcakes, too
- Super moist and deeply chocolatey—just read the reviews!
Why Bake With Zucchini?
If you’re new to combining zucchini + chocolate, welcome to the not-so-secret club!
Zucchini is one of my favorite baking ingredients and I have a lot of published recipes using this summer vegetable. My recipes for zucchini bread and zucchini muffins are both incredibly popular with readers, and you’ll find a whopping 3 cups of the nutrition-boosting green shreds in my chocolate zucchini cake, but only if you are looking for it—no one will know if you don’t tell them!
It sounds odd to bake with a green vegetable, but here’s why you should:
- There are only so many zucchini side dishes to make (looking at you, zucchini casserole). Zucchini is abundant in the summer months, so sneaking it into baked goods is a great way to use up a bounty of squash.
- Zucchini adds flavorless moisture. We’re talking pure moisture with zero savory vegetable flavor. You’ve had carrot cake, right? Well, zucchini adds even more moisture and hides even better!
Once you’re convinced, try this zucchini cake with brown butter cream cheese frosting next. For even more inspiration, see all my favorite zucchini recipes—both sweet and savory!
Success Tip: Shredding Zucchini
Today’s zucchini bread comes together in just minutes with simple kitchen tools including a couple bowls, a whisk, and a 9×5-inch loaf pan or an 8×4-inch loaf pan like this one or this one. You also need a grater to shred the zucchini. If you’re looking for recommendations, I own and love this box grater because it’s easy to use, grates quickly, and has held up well with regular use. It’s what I use when making zucchini fritters, too.
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
- Zucchini: Zucchini can vary in size, but 1 medium zucchini is plenty for this recipe. You need 1 and 1/2 cups shredded, which is about 180g, depending on how tightly you pack it.
- Flour: Doesn’t seem like a lot of flour, and it’s not. Keep in mind there’s also cocoa powder which is another dry ingredient. Most of the volume is the zucchini!
- Cocoa Powder: Make sure to use unsweetened natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process, in this recipe. Read about the difference between Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder.
- Instant Coffee/Espresso Powder: A little espresso powder gives this double chocolate zucchini bread the richest-tasting chocolate flavor; the bread doesn’t taste like coffee, rather, the espresso powder deepens the flavor of the cocoa. It’s a trick I use in chocolate chess pie and chocolate cake, too.
- Chocolate Chips: Chocolate chips provide some sweetness, while also creating melty pockets of chocolate throughout every slice.
- Oil: I prefer to use oil in my quick breads, like in strawberry bread and peach quick bread, because of the unparalleled moisture it provides. Lately I’ve been making this chocolate zucchini bread with melted coconut oil.
- Plain Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt adds protein, while also adding tenderness. I always use nonfat here, but you can use low-fat or full-fat Greek yogurt, or regular yogurt, if you prefer.
You also need 2 eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and sugar.
If you love this recipe, you’ll also love my double chocolate banana bread which uses many of the same ingredients.
If you don’t have or don’t want to use coconut oil, a neutral oil such as vegetable oil works instead. Expect a very, very thick batter:
The bread takes about 50 minutes to bake. Begin checking at 45 minutes, though, just in case your oven works extra hard!
While it’s incredibly tempting to slice right into this double chocolate zucchini bread while it’s warm, try to resist. I’ve found that with most baked goods starring zucchini, the flavor is noticeably better once it’s completely cooled. This goes for zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, too.
You can peel the zucchini if you’d like, but I never do. There’s no taste or texture difference. If you’re worried that picky eaters will be suspicious, peeling the zucchini will prevent any trace of green specks sharp eyes might detect.
Slice the bottom end off of the zucchini, hold onto the stem end, and scrape the squash against the shredder side of a box grater like this one until you get to the stem you’re holding. The shredder side is the one with the largest holes.
When I first published this recipe in 2015, I included a step for blotting some moisture out of the zucchini. I don’t find this necessary anymore. In fact, you WANT that extra moisture in every single slice. Just shred the zucchini and add right to the batter.
Fan-Favorite Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This double chocolate zucchini bread is moist and fudge-like, and comes together quickly with a couple bowls and a whisk. Readers have loved this recipe for years, and it’s on my menu all summer long when zucchini is plentiful. See recipe Notes for freezing and doubling instructions.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (41g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch process)*
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder*
- 3/4 cup (135g) semi-sweet chocolate chips*
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup (80g) plain Greek yogurt or sour cream*
- 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) shredded zucchini (no need to blot)*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan or 8×4-inch loaf pan (for a taller loaf) with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder together until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, yogurt, granulated sugar, and vanilla together until combined. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk to combine. Fold in the zucchini. The batter is very thick.
- Bake for 45–55 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from over-cooking. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. The 9×5-inch pan takes closer to 45 minutes, and the 8×4-inch pan takes closer to 55 minutes. All ovens vary, so begin checking around the 45-minute mark.
- Remove bread from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 1 hour. While it’s still warm, I gently press a few more chocolate chips into the top; this is optional and only for looks.
- Remove bread from the pan and place the loaf directly on the wire rack to cool completely.
- Cover and store bread at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked & cooled loaf, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If desired, bring to room temperature before serving. To learn more details about how to freeze quick breads, see my post called Make-Ahead Baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan or 8×4-inch Loaf Pan | Box Grater | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Double the Recipe: You can double the recipe by doubling all of the ingredients and dividing the batter between 2 loaf pans. If the batter seems much too thick, you can add a splash of milk.
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins: Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C) and spray a 12-count pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Prepare batter as directed above, fill each liner to the top with batter and bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C). Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 350°F (177°C) and continue to bake for an additional 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 10–12 muffins.
- Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a 12-count pan with cupcake liners. Prepare batter as directed above, fill each liner 2/3 full with batter and bake for 19–20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost with chocolate buttercream. Makes 12 cupcakes.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. See Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.
- Espresso Powder: Espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor. You can skip it or use 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder instead.
- Chocolate Chips: Don’t leave these out! They sweeten the bread and give the bread more chocolate flavor. The bread is a little bland without them.
- Yogurt: I usually use nonfat plain Greek yogurt. You can use full-fat, low-fat, or even vanilla Greek yogurt instead. Or use regular plain yogurt, or sour cream. Prior to 2023, this recipe called for 1/4 cup (60g) yogurt, but I now use 1/3 cup (80g) as listed above. Extra moisture!
- Sugar: For a sweeter bread, use 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar.
- Zucchini: I do not peel the zucchini before shredding, but you certainly can if you’d like. I like to use a box grater for shredding zucchini. Zucchini can vary in size, but 1 medium zucchini is plenty for this recipe. If using frozen zucchini, thaw first and lightly blot before using.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 246
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 76.4 mg
- Fat: 11.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.2 g
- Protein: 5.4 g
- Cholesterol: 37.6 mg
Definitely making again. Very moist and not too sweet. The bursts of chocolate chips give the loaf the added sweetness.
I was looking for a chocolate zucchini muffin recipe and this was perfect! I used 3/4c sugar based on your suggestion and some of the reviews. I also used a mixture of chocolate and peanut butter chips. The muffins came out perfect and (not surprisingly) my 2-year olds love them also!
I made this yesterday along with my regular zucchini bread. My family was not happy with this chocolate chip cake. The cake was not sweet enough and relied on the chips to sweeten it. My regular cake uses 1 cup of sugar (both white and brown). It also needs 3/4 tsp of both soda and powder. I will make it again but with my changes. Thanks though for the post.
This is the second year I will be using this recipe. I usually make mini loaves and give them to neighbors. Such a big hit! Some of the best zucchini bread I ever made. Thanks so much for the recipe
Sally, this is my second year of making your double chocolate zucchini bread. I prefer to use small loaf pans and give many loaves away as gifts, freeze enough to last through Thanksgiving, and always have a loaf ready for the family snack.
Well over 100 times, I have used your recipe! Thank you for sharing.
My favorite time to enjoy a piece of this delicious bread is with my first cup of morning coffee.
That’s when I encourage everyone to have a slice. First thing with coffee. Nothing beats it.
My son cannot eat dairy, so I made the recipe using Silk Dairy Free Yogurt Alternative (plain flavored) and Chatfield’s Carob Chips. (I also omitted the coffee). My kids LOVED it! Thanks!
I made 3 loaves last night and all I can say is wow!! I made 1 for the house, 1 to freeze, and gave one to a good friend who is on a diet. He says it is fantastic and he said it’s more like cake and can’t believe there’s zucchini in it! lol Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe! We have a huge garden every year so I’m always looking for different zucchini recipes! Glad I stumbled across this one! 🙂
This chocolate zucchini bread was outstanding. Very moist and chocolatey! I made small loaves and gave them to several people, received rave reviews. A definite keeper. Thanks so much!
Sally – I found your page and this recipe last year and this is now my “go-to” chocolate zucchini bread recipe. I’ve found it is amazing if you add just a dash of almond extract to it. If you don’t have semi-sweet chips, chop up a bar of dark baking chocolate and add that instead. It is also great with peanut butter chips. I just got 3 small zucchini in my weekly farm share and I’m about to make my first loaf of the summer!
I made this using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and I increased the Greek yogurt to 1/2 cup and used only 1.5 tablespoons of oil and omitted the coffee – it turned out well and so delicious…you’re right this won’t last long! Thanks Sally for your helpful detailed notes especially noting about oven timing – mine baked for 60 minutes.
Ah-ha!!!! THAT’S it—–I did use the Hershey’s special dark cocoa. Lesson learned!! I WILL be making this again because it’s absolutely DELICIOUS, especially when warm!!! (I gave one loaf away and froze the other to bring to the hair salon when I go for my next appointment.) THANKS for the recipe AND for the advice!!!!
This is an awesome recipe I can never get my two autistic children or my typical child to eat zucchini unless I bake it into something and I have yet to find a recipe that puts chocolate in the mix with the zucchini, this is fabulous! I added two scoops of some chocolate flavored whey protein powder to give it a little bit more protein just for my own personal taste and for the fact that my two autistic kids are very picky eaters and I can’t ever seem to get enough protein in them…it came out super super moist I loved it my kids love it this is definitely a winner and I am going to make it again and again and again! Thank you for posting this recipe
Just made a double batch last night in two 8×4 loaf pans. One came to work (high school) and one I’m leaving with a friend who just had her first baby. All my teacher friends raved about this bread when I took it out at lunch and passed it around. Everyone agrees: delicious, moist, dense, but not too sweet. Way to go, Sally. You get an A+.
I love how you turned this recipe into cupcakes! After all, cupcakes are just slightly sweeter muffins topped with frosting (my fav). I’m going to give this a try, cupcake-style, this summer when I seem to have 300 zucchinis lying around. Thanks for the great idea (I’ll top with lots of extra chocolate chips too)!
Hi Sally. I have made this bread a few times and it’s delicious every time. I sub half of the flour for oatmeal, use brown sugar, sour cream instead of yogurt and add a full cup of chips. Also I don’t drain the zucchini. Perfection. Thanks for this recipe. 🙂
I made this recipe today it was easy and delicious. Healthier than my regular zucchini bread recipe too. 🙂 Made 2.
Wow Sally, this is amazing! I’ve made this almost every week since you posted. I love to freeze the muffins and pull 1 or 2 out for a mid morning snack. I add some PB on top if i had a big workout and it is so so satisfying. I’ve even bought zucchini for this recipe…who buys zucchini? usually I’m trying to off it on unsuspecting neighbors but not anymore. Now i bring them zucchini bread. Thanks for your baking genius!
I just baked this without the chocolate chips and coffee powder and also added cinnamon (instead of vanilla) and it’s soooo delicious and the sweetness is just perfect!! we usually eat sweets that are not so sweet so this was great to our taste! Thanks for the recipe and all the best to you 🙂
I made this bread this afternoon and just had my first piece. IT IS DELICIOUS!! I will definitely be making it again…and again! I highly recommend it (if anyone is on the fence about zucchini bread)! Another great recipe, Sally. Thanks so much…
I made the muffins, only I didn’t have any yogurt on hand so I used sour cream. Absolutely delicious! My daughter, 7, wolfed one down in about 4 bites and will never suspect the zucchini! I’ve got a pretty sensitive palate so I was sure I would taste it, but it was just a yummy chocolate muffin!
Loved this!!! Made it twice already. The first time it was under baked with the cooking time and temp as stated in the recipe, but it tasted so great I decided to give it another try, it needed at least an hour in my oven.
LOVE THIS RECIPE. Thank you so much!
This was a great recipe! I picked more zucchini than I could handle so I was looking for a zucchini bread recipe that felt a bit more indulgent than the usual. This definitely hit the sweet (but not too sweet) spot… pun totally intended! Thanks for sharing!
Baked this tonight — didn’t adjust for high altitude, but it came out perfect anyway. Did not add the extra sugar. It was divine! My husband (the one who says he doesn’t care about sweets) ate three pieces.
I made this yesterday and it is delicious. I substituted with whole wheat pastry flour to make it even healthier. Great way to use up all of my zucchini from the garden!
I made this today! It baked very well and was divine!
Made this last night and it is amazing! It is also hubby approved. He wasn’t onboard when making it because of the zucchini, but he did a 180 when he tried it. Your website is my number one pick for baking goodies. Thank you
OMG Sally I’ve been following your recipes for a while now as I am myself passionate for baking and love pampering my family with healthy goodies 🙂 But I must say these muffins were too amazing to be true. No one could guess they have zuccini in them and they turned out black!!! The bitterness of the chocolate mixed with the touch of coffee is just addictingly yummy!! Too bad I didn’t follow your suggestion of doubling the recipe right away but shall be doing that from now on 😉
Thanks soooooo much for sharing xoxo
This bread is seriously addictive!! The children collectively raised 5 pairs of eyebrows when they heard I had made a chocolate bread that contained – out of all things – zucchini! They were nudging each other, seemingly plucking up the courage to try this… well, needless to say the bread nearly finished before before I got a piece, they absolutely loved it!! I substituted the two eggs with egg-replacer, as my husband is allergic to egg, and it worked really well (although had to bake for quite some time longer for some reason, also at higher temp). The bread was soooo yummy, the children all asked to make it again tomorrow (I don’t need to mention we finished it all in one sitting). Thank you for this yummy recipe (and kind of healthy, right? Lol!)
I made this bread last night and my daughter had no idea there was a vegetable in it! I used special dark cocoa powder by Hershey’s and it was so fudgy. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Sally!
My kids and I loved this bread. Made it Friday night and it’s already all gone! Sally you weren’t lying about making double the recipe. What I personally like the most was that it wasn’t overly sweet and there is so much deep chocolate flavor. I’m definitely making it again this week!