Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

This chocolate chip zucchini bread is a healthy and easy way to use up summer zucchini.

It’s naturally egg-free, and made with simple pantry staples, perfect for a wholesome snack, light dessert, or even a quick breakfast. (Louise loves a slice of zucchini bread with peanut butter in the morning before her workout 😋).

The loaf is soft, moist, and tender, yet not soggy in the center. It holds together beautifully, and slices cleanly.

You only need one bowl, and a few everyday ingredients; it’s as easy as our other popular quick bread recipes; healthy banana bread, vegan banana bread, and blueberry bread.

Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, this easy chocolate chip zucchini bread is guaranteed to impress.

• Zucchini: Use green zucchini. There’s no need to peel or drain them. All you have to do is grate them with the large holes of a box grater. Freshly grated zucchini adds the right amount of moisture and acts as a binder or egg replacer.

• All-purpose flour: or half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. To make gluten-free, use a 1 to 1 gluten-free flour mix made for cakes instead of wheat flour.

• Sugar: brown sugar, but any other granulated sugar would do, including white sugar, coconut sugar, and palm sugar.

• Oil: Neutral vegetable oils, such as sunflower and olive oil add moistness without compromising taste. Coconut oil works too. If you are on an oil-free diet, replace the oil with applesauce in the same amount.

• Milk: We tried almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, and rice milk, and they all worked perfectly. All milk work fine for this recipe.

• Spices: We add cinnamon and vanilla extract. Other spices that go well in zucchini bread are grated nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cardamom.

• Baking powder and baking soda: A classic combo for helping the bread rise. If you don’t have baking soda, double the baking powder amount.

• Salt: Add just a pinch of sea salt to help bring out the taste of the other ingredients. If you are on a low-sodium diet, you can omit salt.

• Chocolate chips: We add dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts to our zucchini bread recipe. You can also cut a dark chocolate bar into small pieces with a knife. Dark chocolate and nuts improve the bread’s taste, nutrition, and texture. Suitable substitutes are pecans, hazelnuts, raisins, and dried cranberries.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 9 x 5-inch (25×11 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.

To a large mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients: milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix well with a silicone spatula or with a wooden spoon.

Grate the zucchini with the large holes of a box grater and mix them with the wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Mix with a spoon or spatula but don’t overmix, or your bread can get gummy. Add dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts and stir them to incorporate them into the batter.

Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and bake at 350°F or 180°C for 40 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.

To ensure the zucchini bread is fully cooked, poke it diagonally with a skewer or toothpick.

If the skewer comes out dry, the bread is ready.

Take the chocolate chip zucchini bread out of the loaf pan, put it on a cooling rack, and let it cool down for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before slicing.

Same recipe, different shape. Zucchini muffins are fantastic because they are super portable and perfect for a quick breakfast on the go or as a snack.

• Thick batter: the batter for a perfectly moist zucchini bread that is not wet in the center should be dense, almost like a soft dough. The zucchini will release water while it cooks, making the bread perfectly moist.
• Don’t overmix: with quick bread, in general; you should only mix for a few seconds to bring the ingredients together, and no more. Overmixing will develop the gluten in the flour, and our bread will turn out too compact and dense.
• Bake immediately: once the baking powder is added to the batter, it starts being activated and gradually loses some of its rising properties. That’s why we want to preheat the oven as a first step and bake as soon as possible once the batter is ready.
• Don’t open the oven door: this is true for most baked goods. Don’t open the oven door during the first 30 minutes, or your bread won’t rise.

Questions

Make Ahead: zucchini bread is an excellent recipe to make ahead. As it cools down, the crumb becomes soft and easy to slice, and the flavors have time to meld.

Room temperature: store it at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, or in a plastic bag for 3 days. Wrapping the bread is essential to prevent the first slice and the outer part from drying.

Refrigerator: to extend storage time, you can store it in the fridge, well-wrapped, for up to 4 – 5 days. Reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds if you don’t like it cold.

Freezer: let the bread cool down completely, wrap it in plastic or foil, then put it in an airtight container or a zip-lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Warm up in the microwave if desired.

If you get as excited about cooking with zucchini as we do, check out our other zucchini recipes:

• Sautéed zucchini
• Zucchini fritters
• Zucchini salad
• Zucchini boats
• Roasted zucchini
• Air fryer zucchini