Chocolate (Chip) Zucchini Bread

I have been making this zucchini bread for well over 20 years now. It grew out of necessity. I had a need to use up the zucchini avalanche that overtakes us every August. You think that I would finally learn that one zucchini plant is enough? No, not me. They sell them in those cute little 4 packs and it breaks my heart to throw away a perfectly good plant, so the extra plants I can’t give away, end up in the ground, cause I would feel bad if I had to banish them to the compost pile. The result of my plant sympathy is lots of zucchini.

There is some truth to the saying “I can’t give the stuff away”.

This is one of my favorite ways to use up some of the abundance. Chocolate Zucchini Bread, or in this version, Chocolate Chip Zucchini cause we all know everything is better with chocolate (or as my husband would say bacon, but I’m not quite sure bacon would work well in this recipe!).



This is another recipe pulled from the archives. I don’t even peel the zucchini; I just give it a good scrub and shred it. I kinda like the little green flecks nestled into the moist chocolate cake. For years and years my kids would gobble this up, never thinking there was a vegetable in it! Oh the horror! Once they got older I confessed that the little green flecks were indeed zucchini and guess what, they still gobble it up. Every once in a while I will throw in a handful of chocolate chips or mini chips to make it extra chocolaty and gooey.

I often substitute applesauce for the oil in this cake and it still comes out great. This recipe makes two loaves.

I guarantee that even your most picky vegetable haters, will love this cake.

Chocolate (Chip) Zucchini Bread
Printable recipe
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
(you can substitute 1 cup of applesauce)
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
(you can peel them, I never do)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking powder
handful of chocolate chips or mini chips

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar & vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Combine all the dry ingredients and add it to the zucchini mixture. Mix well. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans, or make muffins by filling the pans 2/3 full with batter.

Bake loaf pans at 350 for 1 hour or until bread tests done. Bake muffins at 350 for 15 minutes or until they test done.