The Best Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

I love this chocolate zucchini bread recipe! It really is the best chocolate zucchini bread.

I also love spring and summer! The sun is out, you can usually spend more time outside, and plants are green and growing, including the garden! I just snagged a couple of beautiful zucchini from my garden this week.

How to Make a Moist Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

For a delicious loaf of homemade bread, this recipe is actually pretty quick and easy! Here’s how to make it in 5 simple steps:

Step 1. Make the Flour Mixture

For this step, whisk together your flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Set this mixture aside for later.

Step 2. Mix Wet Batter

We don’t have an image for this step but it’s simple enough! Just beat together your oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs, for about 1-2 minutes. Then, add vanilla and sour cream and mix everything together until combined.

Step 3. Add Zucchini (and Strain If Needed)

Some zucchini can end up being wetter than others. If your shredded zucchini seems to have a lot of liquid, gently press it out through a strainer over the sink. Then, stir it into your wet batter.

Note: There’s no need to exert yourself in removing all of the moisture from your zucchini! In fact, most of the time I can just grate the fresh zucchini and add it right into the batter because there isn’t usually much excess liquid.

Step 4. Make it Double Chocolate

Yep, although this chocolate zucchini bread already has a bit of cocoa in it, you can never go wrong with chocolate chips! They make every bite a bit extra chocolatey, moist, and delicious.

Here’s the secret to adding the chocolate chips: first stir a spoonful of the flour mixture you made in step 1 in with your chocolate chips. Set that aside for a second and stir the rest of your flour mixture into the batter, stirring until just combined. THEN stir in the chocolate chips. This helps them mix in perfectly.

Step 5. Divide Batter and Bake!

I use two 1-pound loaf pans for this recipe. The dimensions of each pan is 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 3/4″. Other size loaf pans will work as well, but may slightly affect the baking time and appearance of the loaf.

You can make this chocolate zucchini batter into muffins too! Just pour the batter into lined muffin tins and bake for a much shorter time, try about 12 minutes or so. Mini loaf pans are a great option as well, especially if you want to give some away!

Final Thoughts

This recipe is so perfect. The zucchini bread tastes so good with a tender, moist texture. Thanks to the sour cream and zucchini! And the chocolate flavor is everything you want it to be. All topped off with a yummy sugar crackled top.

Whenever I get a good size zucchini, this chocolate zucchini bread is a must-make recipe. I’ve made some pretty delicious things with zucchini through the years, but I think my favorite zucchini recipes right now are this chocolate zucchini bread, zucchini brownies, and grilled zucchini with lemon salt. Yum!

More of our favorite zucchini recipes:

• Healthy Zucchini Muffins
• Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake
• Best Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
• Crazy Delicious Zucchini Pizza Crust
• Cheesy Zucchini Bites Recipe

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This recipe was inspired by Monica’s grandma’s zucchini bread recipe, her friend Becca, and Our Best Bites.

The Best Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

This is the best chocolate zucchini bread recipe out there! Everything about it is just right!

5 / 5 ( 7 Reviews )

Print Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Serves: 20

Adjust Servings: 20

US CustomaryMetric

Equipment

• Loaf pan
• Medium bowl
• Large bowl

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup sour cream
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• ¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs, about 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined.
• If shredded zucchini is especially wet, place it in a strainer and gently press out excess liquid. Then stir the zucchini into the batter.
• Stir a spoonful of the flour mixture in with the mini chocolate chips. Then add the rest of the flour mixture to the batter and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Divide batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Sprinkle topping over each.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not goopy batter. Let the bread cool 5-10 minutes before removing from pans.

Nutrition

Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Sodium: 162mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g