This peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread is packed with the flavors of peanut butter and melty chocolate chips, and no one will guess there’s a green vegetable hiding in there! It’s simple to make, extra moist, and a tasty way to use up summer’s abundance of zucchini. Like banana bread, the flavors really stand out on day 2. (Should any slices survive that long!!)
One reader, Michelle, commented: “I made this today for our weekly game night and it is fabulous! Everyone loved it… It’s wonderfully moist and very easy to make. Thank you, Sally, for another wonderful recipe! โ โ โ โ โ “
As a baker, I’ve built up a lot of self control around desserts and baked goods. I’m around it all the time! But there are a few exceptions that really test my limits, including salted caramel apple pie, carrot cake, and today’s peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread.
YOU CANNOT STOP EATING THIS.
If you enjoy regular zucchini bread, and also love peanut butter, you will flip over this peanut butter zucchini bread.
You’ll Love This Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread:
- Batter comes together quicklyโno mixer needed
- Super moist with loads of flavor
- Sneaks in a vegetable
- Freezes beautifully
- You can also make as muffins
- A delicious snack or dessert you can enjoy any time of day
- A wonderful way to use up a peak-summer bounty of zucchini!
Like double chocolate zucchini bread or a chocolate chip loaf cake, this peanut buttery, chocolate chip-studded quick bread tastes like a treat… most lucky taste testers won’t be able to guess there’s a garden vegetable hiding in every bite!
Why Bake With Zucchini?
Zucchini is abundant in the summer months, and while I enjoy cooking it and making savory side dishes such as this easy zucchini casserole or these zucchini biscuits, I especially love to incorporate this vegetable in my baking, and have published a lot of zucchini recipes on my website.
Why? Zucchini adds flavorless moisture. We’re talking pure moisture with zero savory vegetable flavor. Itโs truly a magical ingredient in your baked goods, because you can’t taste itโeven in the richest desserts like chocolate zucchini cake or this zucchini cake.
Grab These Ingredients:
In addition to the zucchini, the remaining ingredients are all standard baking staples you likely already have in your kitchen. Let me point out 3 imperatives, though:
- Creamy Peanut Butter: You can use natural (with the oil stirred in) or processed peanut butter in this recipe, but stick to the smooth, creamy kind. Crunchy peanut butter makes for crumbly baked goods.
- Vegetable Oil: While the zucchini provides lots of moisture, peanut butter can act as a drying ingredient in baked goods, so the bread needs *some* oil to balance it.
- Honey: I wanted a little extra moisture in the loaf, so I reduced the brown sugar and added some honey. You’ll love the flavor combo of honey + peanut butter.
Success Tip: Shred the Zucchini with a Box Grater & Don’t Blot It
Today’s peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread comes together in just a few minutes with simple kitchen tools including a couple bowls, a whisk, and 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. (See many of my recommended baking tools here.) The grater is what I use when making zucchini fritters, too.
Important: You do not need to blot the zucchini before using in the batter; you want all of that moisture in your loaf.
Zucchini can vary in size, but 1โ2 medium zucchini are plenty for this recipe. You need 1 and 1/2 cups shredded, which weighs about 180g.
You don’t have to peel the zucchini before you shred it, but if you have any sharp-eyed vegetable critics in the house, you can peel the green skin off so it’s completely invisible in the bread. There’s no taste or texture variance either way.
Just wait until you smell this peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread baking! I love it when it’s still slightly warm from the oven, but enjoy it even better on day 2 after the flavors have settled. Excited for you to try it!
Can I Make Muffins?
Yes! You can use this batter to make peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini muffins. Detailed instructions are in the Notes below. This makes enough batter to yield 15 muffins.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (includes slight cooling)
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Packed with the flavors of peanut butter and melty chocolate chips, no one will guess there’s a green vegetable hiding in this simple quick bread. Like banana bread, the flavors really stand out on day 2. (Should any slices survive that long!!) See recipe Note about turning the batter into muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 and 2/3 cups (208g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil or olive oil
- 1/2 cup (125g) creamy peanut butter (processed or natural)
- 2/3 cup (133g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (113g) honey
- 2 large eggs,ย at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk (any kind), at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) shredded zucchini (no need to blot)
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf panย with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, peanut butter, brown sugar, honey, eggs, milk, and vanilla together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently stir or whisk until *just* combined; do not overmix. With a silicone spatula, fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Batter is slightly thick.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55โ70 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from over-browning. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs.
- Remove the bread from the oven and set on a wire rack. Cool in the pan for 1 hour before removing from the pan. You can slice the bread at this point, but it will still be warm in the center and may not slice neatly. For neat slices, cool the bread completely on a wire rack before slicing.
- Cover and store bread at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Bread tastes best on day 2 after the flavors have settled together.
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 this 9×5-inch Loaf Panย | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Box Grater | Cooling Rackย
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins: Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. Grease or line 3 cups in a second muffin pan; this recipe yields 15 muffins. Prepare batter as directed in steps 2 and 3. Spoon the batter evenly into each liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425ยฐF (218ยฐC); then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Bake for an additional 16โ18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21โ23 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Yields 15 muffins.
- Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour? Yes, you can replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour with no other changes needed. The loaf will taste denser.
- Honey: I don’t recommend using all honey in this recipe; use the combination of honey and brown sugar as listed in the recipe. If you don’t want to use honey, replace it with pure maple syrup or white granulated sugar. No other changes needed to the recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I enjoyed this–thank you! I swapped in all whole wheat flour, which worked great! I don’t think it needs a full cup of chocolate chips as muffins, I might bring that down to 3/4 cup next time.
This recipe is lovely! I did not cover it halfway through baking with foil, and my top did get a bit dark. But it didn’t burn, and the crispy exterior was amaaazing. I will certainly be making this again! It’s moist and sweet and tastes like cake honestly. If you like peanut butter, definitely give this recipe a go.
I have made peanut butter zucchini bread for years but decided to try this recipe today…..not even close to my original recipe. Horrible….never add cinnamon with peanut butter! Turned out gross. Total waste of quality ingredients.
Hi Teri! How about banana? We love these healthier chocolate banana muffins that you can swirl peanut butter into (see the blog post!). You could make that recipe into a loaf, with the peanut butter swirl, if you would like!
Can I use 2 8 1/2×4 loaf pans instead of the 9×5? Love your recipes & Iโm excited to try this one as well!!
Hi Heather, the loaves will be quite short, but that should work. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, since there will be significantly less batter in each loaf pan. Let us know how it goes!
PB + chocolate is my favorite flavor combo ever, so thank you for this recipe!
I wanted to make a mini-muffin version. I baked the 5 minutes at 425, then 12 minutes at 350, and that worked well.
The batter made more than 2 pans’ worth of my 20-mini-muffin pan. I ended up needing to put a bit of batter into one of my tiny loaf pans, 3×5 size, and pulling enough back out of some of the mini muffin pan to give the loaf enough batter.
Final output, 32 mini muffins and one mini loaf. I’d suggest starting by putting some batter into that mini-loaf or another small size, or be ready with a bigger muffin pan to take some of the final batter that won’t fit into the tiny ones.
The taste of peanut butter is definitely overpowering in this recipe. It will work if youโre a fan of PB. Otherwise the recipe works.
Absolutely delicious!! So moist. Just about to make another loaf.
I made this recipe today. I thought it would be a good one. Baked it to 55 mins, Still not done in center. Had to keep baking to 70 mins. Outside of bread tastes burned. Not sure what I did wrong.
I LOVE this recipe!! So so moist, full of flavour and not overly sweet. I leave out the chocolate chips so that it’s a slightly healthier option for my family to snack on during the week. Love the flavour combo! Will be making regularly, yum!!
I love the idea, and the texture of the bread was good. But I have found I do not like the flavor of peanut butter and cinnamon together. Itโs great in plain zucchini bread but not in this. If youโve already experimented and like the combo this would be great for you. The bread freezes well.
I had extra zucchini and this is the first place I looked for a recipe because I trust yours with-my-life and they are absolutely delicious. Made the muffins and turned up great!
My neighbor gave me some zucchini the other day and I wanted to try a different recipe this time. This was a big hit and my husband and I just love it….so moist! I absolutely loved adding the peanut butter. I am wondering if I could add 1/4 cup of cocoa powder? What do you think?? Thanks again.. By the way, I have also been baking your scone recipes and just love them. I have never tried making scones before until a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, I am hooked:)
Hi Ellen, we haven’t tested this bread with cocoa powder, so are unsure of the result. Cocoa powder can be a very drying ingredient, and peanut butter is as well in baking, so I’d be afraid the bread would come out dry. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Hi, can we bake the same recipe in 5 inch loaf pan, how should i mearsure
Hi Salma, you should be able to get at least 2 loaves from that size pan. Fill your pan about half way to 2/3 full. Same temperature, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time so keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness.