Fudgey Chocolate Zucchini Bread
If zucchini bread and brownies had a baby, it would be this chocolate zucchini bread! I took my perfect zucchini bread and turned it into the most fudgey chocolate version.
Since I was given like a thousand pounds of zucchini, I figured I would bake as many zucchini recipes as I could with them. I made *one* zucchini salad lol but I took my easy base Zucchini Bread recipe and turned it into different flavors – aka, brown butter chocolate chip, lemon and of course, this fudgy chocolate zucchini bread. I want to say all of them are my favorite while I’m eating them but when I eat the next one that becomes my new favorite so really, I just can’t pick.
How To Make The Fudgiest Chocolate Zucchini Bread
It’s just as simple as the original – mix the wet ingredients well. I like to add the eggs in one at a time and beat really well between each one. Then add the dry ingredients followed by the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips.
The most tedious part is just shredding the zucchini so I definitely recommend a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Shredding Attachment. It’s fairly inexpensive and so useful for so many recipes!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Zucchini: I had very large zucchini and made several recipes from one. Some zucchinis can be more dry than others but if you weigh the amount, this shouldn’t matter too much. If you’re a little short on zucchini, you can also make up the difference in weight with apple sauce or yogurt.
- Flour: I use all purpose flour in most of my recipes and I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is so often over measured.
- 1:1 Gluten-free flour substitutes should also work fine.
- Cocoa Powder: I love using dutch-processed cocoa powder but natural cocoa also works fine. Again, I recommend measuring this with a scale.
- Baking Powder/Soda: I use both baking powder and baking soda to get a nice rise on the heavy batter.
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar – brown sugar also works fine.
- Oil/Butter: My zucchini bread recipes work with both oil and butter, but I love the melt-in-your-mouth texture that the butter gives so I recommend that.
- Eggs: I use room temperature, large eggs. Place them in hot water for a few minutes if they’re cold.
- Chocolate chips: Any kind of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate works fine!
Step-by-Step Instructions with Photos
- Shred the zucchinis (with the peel is fine). Small seeds are fine but I discard the large ones.
- Whisk together the sugar and butter until they’re well combined.
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. For extra fluffy bread, add one egg at a time, whisking until each one is completely combined. Then add the other egg, etc.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and then add them into the wet ingredients, whisking just until they’re completely combined.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini just until it’s combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips just until they’re evenly distributed.
- Fill the batter in the prepared pan and *optional* top with granulated sugar and pipe a line of butter down the center to get a center crack.
- Bake for about 60-65 minutes, until you insert a knife in the center and no wet batter comes out.
Pro Tips for the best zucchini bread:
- Make sure to use the right pan for this zucchini bread. I recommend a 9×5” metal loaf pan. If you’re using a glass pan it may not bake properly.
- Don’t swap or reduce any of the ingredients if I didn’t mention them in the ingredient section above.
- Use a digital scale to measure your ingredients for the most accurate measurements. If your zucchini doesn’t add up to the exact weight, you can add a little water, applesauce or yogurt to make up the difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
I stick a knife all the way down the center (the tallest part) and if it comes out with moist crumbs instead of gummy batter it’s done baking.
You can also check the temperature with a digital thermometer – you want it around 200F (93C).
You can use any kind of chocolate you want here. Mini chocolate chips disperse more evenly, larger chocolate chips give you nice large chunks of chocolate and a chopped up chocolate bar takes longer to ‘set’ so you’ll get more of those melty pools of chocolate as opposed to a chunk/bite of chocolate.
How to make chocolate zucchini bread as muffins?
Absolutely, I made this zucchini bread into like 5 flavors and tested them all as muffins – I won’t double post the recipe as muffins lol but they do work perfectly if you follow the baking instructions of my vanilla muffin recipe (rest for about an hour, bake 12 large muffins at 425F and then 375F).
How to store zucchini bread
I place the bread under a cake dome or in an airtight container or baggy at room temperature for 2-3 days. If it’s longer you can refrigerate it for a couple of days but it may dry out quicker in the fridge, so I recommend freezing instead.
You can freeze the whole thing or each individual slice with plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.
If you loved this fudgy chocolate zucchini bread as much as I do, I would appreciate it if you left a 5-star rating or a review below lol & don’t forget to save on Pinterest!
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
