Chocolate Zucchini Bread
A classic zucchini bread is hard to beat but a chocolate makeover elevates it from wholesome to wow.
As I sit here waiting for a friend’s arrival for a late afternoon hike, I’m enjoying a slice of this chocolate zucchini bread. It’s probably not the best move to take in these calories before exercise but I’m giving myself a little leeway since I’ve been extra motivated with my weekly activities lately.
Okay, mainly it’s to cheat the system–or at least it feels like cheating. My annual physical is at the end of this month and in the weeks leading up to the necessary blood work (last week), I tightened my diet with less post-dinner sweets, more lean protein and upped my weekly routine with extra hiking miles…all to hopefully shave a point or two from the glucose and cholesterol numbers that my doctor looks at so carefully. I’m not sure how much I really help myself doing this but I reason that it can’t be a bad thing, right?
With the lab work behind me a treat was in order but I didn’t want to cancel out all my recent efforts so zucchini bread seemed like a good compromise. Using my favorite Zucchini Bread recipe as the base, with a few adjustments, this simple quick bread with its soft, light texture and double infusion of chocolate satisfied my craving for a chocolate cake without the guilt. The light topping of bittersweet chocolate chips, melty from the oven lent just enough sweetness to complement the hint of dark flavor from the unsweetened cocoa powder in the batter.
It’s not that I was after creating a diet cake. In fact, my zucchini bread is a vegan recipe but in this case I added back the eggs and dairy though the olive oil remained unchanged. Even with over two packed cups of unpeeled, unseeded zucchini, almond meal and oats, the olive oil saves the bread from being dry and crumbly.
We had unexpected company Sunday night, a friend who decided to come over this weekend to prepare for us a seafood feast. He arrived with grocery bags loaded with shrimp, three kinds of fish, vegetables and wine. It beat the simple vegetarian dinner I had planned to make for me and my husband and I was happy to be sous chef for the evening. His arrival being such short notice there was no time for me to do anything else but enjoy a good friend cooking for us. My contribution? I had cheese, French ham, other little bites, a fresh loaf of Jalapeño-Cheddar Sourdough Bread and this Chocolate Zucchini Bread, both of which I had baked just hours before. I was relieved to have been able to provide something homemade to this impromptu gathering and our friend went home with what was left of my baked goods. Everyone was happy (and I hope my doctor will be, too, when I see him at the end of the month.)
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
A classic zucchini bread is hard to beat but a chocolate makeover elevates it from wholesome to wow.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup oats (Quaker Old-Fashioned)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 2 medium zucchini, grated, liquid drained (See Note)
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I like bittersweet for this)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (or butter) and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
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Sift the flour, cocoa powder, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Whisk or stir in the oats.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, olive oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Fold the shredded zucchini and wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined. The mixture will seem dry but this is fine. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and bake for 55 minutes to one hour.
Recipe Notes
Zucchini: For this recipe I shredded the zucchini without removing the seeds. Feel free to remove them if that is your preference.
I haven’t made this in years! Your photos are so pretty.
Here’s hoping your annual physical was successful and you are happy with the results.
Your chocolate zucchini bread is off the chain. Zucchini adds incredible moisture to bake goods without the calories and the fat. The addition of chocolate really makes this quick bread a real treat.
Best,
velva
Velva, thank you. My annual physical turned out great (yay!) and I’m so glad you like this recipe. 🙂