A healthy chocolate zucchini bread full of hidden zucchini, a dark dense chocolatey cake, and topped with a luscious fudgy layer of melted chocolate. Egg-free, oil-free, vegan, dairy-free, refined-sugar free and option for gluten-free.
This healthy chocolate zucchini bread recipe is simple and light for several reasons but mostly because it is oil free. Specifically this bread is high in protein, fiber and fairly low in sugar and fats.
And this snack bread is remarkably delicious. And easy to make. A great way to sneak those required veggies into your loved ones.
Ingredients for Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Zucchini - grated. Use organic because you don't want to peel it, the peel carries fiber and nutrients, but non-organic zucchini also retains more pesticides.
Unsweetened cocoa - use plain cocoa, not dutch processed, because plain is more acidic and you want that so it can react with baking soda and contribute to leavening.
All purpose flour or a GF blend.
Apple sauce - unsweetened, and this replaces oil.
Yogurt - I recommend coconut but if you don't have yogurt, use more apple sauce in it's place.
Organic Cane Sugar - this is less processed than refined sugar.
Maple Syrup - adds sweetness and moisture.
Flax seed egg - instead of eggs of course.
Don't forget the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla...
How to Make Zucchini Bread
It's an easy recipe. Just combine dry ingredients, and then wet, and then combine them and bake. Here are the steps:
First, preheat the oven to 350 F, line a loaf pan with parchment or grease, and make flax egg and set aside. Grate your zucchini, don't peel it, and press between paper towels to remove moisture.
Add dry ingredients to a smaller bowl and stir up. Add wet ingredients to a larger bowl, and combine into a batter.
Pour into pan and bake between 40 and 60 minutes. Test at 40 minutes and put a foil roof over it lightly if the top seems to be browning too fast.
Remove loaf from oven, cool in pan for 15 minutes, then cool out of pan for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate chips and pour over cooled loaf.
Recipe Substitutions
There are a few substitution possibilities with this recipe.
All purpose flour can be replaced with Bob's Red Mills Baking 1 to 1 flour to make this recipe gluten free.
Yogurt can be replaced with more unsweetened apple sauce although I wouldn't recommend it because the yogurt provides the healthy fat in the recipe.
Organic cane sugar can be replaced with brown sugar or coconut palm sugar.
Q & A
1. Do I leave the skin on zucchini for zucchini bread?
Yes, the skin is nutritious and full of fiber. But the ewg.org says non-organic zucchini carry high levels of pesticide in their skin so buy organic and leave the skin on.
2. How many calories are in a slice of chocolate zucchini bread?
Well my recipe has less than 200 calories a slice, largely because it is plant-based and oil-free.
How do you keep zucchini bread from getting soggy? Easy! Just follow my instructions to press out the water in grated zucchini.
3. Does zucchini bread have nutritional value?
Yes! Chocolate zucchini bread has exceptional nutritional value. High in fiber, protein and essential nutrients.
4. Do you have to dry zucchini before making bread?
No, I grate mine on the largest holes of a box grater to get the best moist, zucchini-flecked texture!
5. How long does chocolate zucchini bread last?
It keeps well refrigerated in a sealed container, or freeze for three months tightly wrapped.
6. How do you make chocolate zucchini bread from scratch?
I made mine without eggs, so I used unsweetened cocoa, flour, baking soda, flax egg, butter, brown sugar and of course, shredded raw zucchini.
Additions
Walnuts are a wonderful addition to this recipe. Just fold in ½ cup walnuts at the end of batter mixing. Or chocolate chips although the texture will have wet spots where they melted. Maybe that's a good thing?
You can also sprinkle them on top of the batter before baking, or sprinkle chocolate chips.
Make Plain Zucchini Bread
To make this into a plain zucchini bread, remove the cocoa powder, increase the flour by ¼ cup, and mix in raisins and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spices.
Can I Make Chocolate Zucchini Muffins?
Sure, just bake 12 in muffin tins lined with paper liners at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.
How to Store
You can store this bread in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Other Desserts With Hidden Veggies
Cauliflower Brownies
Crunch Bars
2-ingredient Fudge
Chocolate Covered Chickpeas
Or, check out my round-up for 41 Healthy Vegan Desserts
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2 cups zucchini (should be organic as zucchini tends to absorb pesticides; shredded, and uncooked)
- ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- ½ cup yogurt full fat, I used coconut
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 flax eggs (Or 5 tablespoon aquafaba or other egg replacer)
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (I have also baked this successfully using Bob's Red Mill's all-purpose gluten-free flour)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Glazed Topping
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (melted in microwave at 60 seconds, poured on cooled baked loaf)
Instructions
Prep
- Make flax eggs by stirring 2 tablespoon of ground flax seed into 5 tablespoon of water and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan and dust with cocoa powder, or line with parchment paper.
- Wash and grate the zucchini, press it between layers of paper towels or kitchen towels, and wait 5 minutes. I press a cookie sheet on top of my paper towels and pile cans on for weight.
Make the Batter
- In the medium bowl, stir up the dry ingredients.
- In the larger mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until everything is just combined. Don't overmix or the cake will become rubbery.
Bake
- Bake for 40 - 50 minutes to possibly 60 minutes, but start checking at 40 minutes. Bake until a tester comes out clean. To avoid the top browning too fast, layer a piece of foil on the top of the cake after about 35 minutes.
- Let cool 30 minutes before attempting to remove the loaf from the pan. I remove it by slipping a knife in the edges, and prying upwards and eventually tipping it over and tapping.
Frost the top
- I melted a half of a cup of chocolate chips in a microwave for 1 minute. Let it cool a bit and then pour it on top of the cooled loaf.
mike
Do you replace the vegan egg, acv, and vegan milk with one egg? Or Do you replace the vegan egg for the regular egg and still use the acv and vegan milk? Thanks!
Dee Dine
Hi Mike, just replace the flaxseed egg and still use the milk and acv!
Patricia
Just confirming the zucchini is used raw? Thanks.
Dee Dine
It is raw, just shredded, and you don't even have to peel the zucchini as it disappears into the batter.
Torrey
Have this in the oven right now! Smells amazing, can't wait to try!
Debbie
Wow, that's great news and I saw your post about it! Thank you Torrey, so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Dee xx.