Food and Recipes Bread Quick Breads Chocolate Zucchini Bread Be the first to rate & review! This rich, chocolaty quick bread is the perfect way to use up too much zucchini, or to simply bake when you need a flavorful treat. By Molly Allen Molly Allen Instagram Molly Allen is a previous bakery owner and freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience focused on food and beverage, lifestyle, travel and parties. Her work has been published in Taste of Home, HuffPost, and Brides, among others. When she’s not writing or baking, she can be found hiking or paddleboarding near Hood River, Oregon, where she calls home. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on April 26, 2023 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Active Time: 15 mins Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins Servings: 8 While quick breads like banana bread and pumpkin bread get all the attention, chocolate zucchini bread is absolutely worth adding to your baking rotation. This bread comes together with just 15 minutes of prep time, and there’s no mixer required. Make great use of an abundance of zucchini in your garden, or simply use it to add more veggies to your diet (while enjoying a sweet treat!) It's rich, fudgy, and jam-packed with flavor. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Ingredients for Chocolate Zucchini Bread This recipe packs in as much chocolate as you can, with of course shredded zucchini. Here's what you should gather if you intend to make this quick bread: Cocoa powder and chocolate chips add double the chocolate flavor for an extra intense and rich bread. You can skip the chips on top if you want, but we love having the final burst of chocolaty goodness when we dig into a slice.You can't have chocolate zucchini bread without zucchini. Peak-season zucchini is ideal for this bread as it's heavy with moisture, and the zucchini in zucchini bread really is adding moisture to the final baked good.Light brown sugar is used for its rich, molasses-tinted flavor. It blends well with the slight bittersweet flavor of the chocolate. Regular granulated sugar provides a bit more sweetness.Sour cream is beloved in baking recipes for its body, richness, and great texture. Vegetable oil is the other main fat, and it helps to blend the sugars so everything combines easily when mixed. Did we mention this is so easy you don't even need a mixer?You'll finish off the list with classic baking ingredients like all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and eggs. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox How To Make Chocolate Zucchini Bread The brilliant thing about quick breads is that you don't have to wait for a yeast to rise or double in size, and there's no worrying your packet of yeast is dead as a doornail either. When you're craving a slice of a delicately sweet bread that's got one foot in dessert and one foot in bread, you can whip out a quick bread like this chocolate zucchini bread in just minutes. The full recipe is below, but here's a quick recap: Prepare a loaf pan: Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray. Alternatively, you can use parchment paper. Leave a bit of paper hanging over both sides of the loaf pan to help you lift the loaf out.Combine dry ingredients: In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).Mix wet ingredients and sugar: In a separate bowl, combine shredded zucchini, eggs, sour cream, oil, sugars, and vanilla extract.Make batter: Add the dry ingredients mixture to the zucchini mixture, and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.Pour batter into pan: Scoop finished batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.Bake: Bake chocolate zucchini bread until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing. More Zucchini Recipes Have a basket full of zucchini and not nearly enough ideas for cooking with it? These zucchini recipes can help: Baked Zucchini Fries Zucchini Lasagna Zucchini Bread Pancakes Chocolate-Zucchini Cake Air Fryer Zucchini Chips Editorial contributions by Kimberly Holland. Ingredients Cooking spray 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 cup sour cream 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Directions Prepare pan and oven: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2in. loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Make zucchini mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and shredded zucchini. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Combine dry ingredients and zucchini mixture: Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Mix until just incorporated, without overmixing. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Measure out 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and set aside for topping; stir remaining chocolate chips into batter. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Bake bread: Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Bake the bread for 52 to 54 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Let bread cool: Once the bread is baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for one hour. Transfer it to a cooling rack to finish cooling for another hour. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Rate it Print