This super simple recipe for double chocolate zucchini bread is made in just one bowl. It’s the perfect recipe to use up garden zucchini while enjoying a rich, decadent chocolate quick bread!

While I love a loaf of good old-fashioned zucchini bread, this death by chocolate zucchini recipe is my new favorite way to use up my garden bounty. It has so much chocolate, from the rich bread itself to the melted morsels sprinkled through each slice, and ending with a drizzle of chocolate on top. This recipe delivers for my little chocolate addicted soul!

The other reason this has become my new favorite zucchini recipe is its simplicity. It uses simple ingredients that I pretty much always have around. All the equipment you need is a large bowl, a spatula, and a loaf pan. This is a one bowl recipe, and it’s become a regular in the summer months for my family. I have no doubt that if you’re a chocolate lover with a ton of zucchini plants, this will become a major player in your sweet treat repertoire. 

​Why you want this recipe: 

• deep chocolate flavor
• gorgeously moist crumb
• one bowl wonder
• sweet way to use up extra zucchini
• ​beginner baker friendly
• so. darn. easy!

Ingredients (with substitution notes)

• Vegetable Oil: Vegetable or canola oil both work well in this recipe because of their neutral flavor. Olive oil will keep the crumb nice and moist, but it does have a stronger flavor. If you’re up for a more earthy undertone to your bread, feel free to sub with olive oil and enjoy all those good fats!
• Sour Cream: Sour cream is a workhorse in this recipe! It adds tang, increases the leavening power of the baking soda and powder, and adds fat and moisture to create a tender texture. To sub, greek yogurt is your closest bet. The difference is almost indetectable! You can also use buttermilk, which maintains that tang but makes for a slightly denser bread. 
• White and Brown Sugar: The combination of white and brown sugar creates the perfect amount of sweetness and depth in this bread. I do not recommend subbing either of these ingredients. 
• Eggs: These provide both moisture and structure to the bread. Flax or chia seed eggs are the closet sub, if you need to make a change. Applesauce and mashed banana can also be subbed, but these result in a much denser bread. 
• Vanilla Extract: While this adds complexity and depth the the flavor of the bread, it can be omitted or subbed with maple syrup or espresso. Some people love the way espresso or espresso powder deepens the chocolately flavor!
• All Purpose Flour: This recipe has only been tested with all purpose flour. I do not recommend subbing this, as it provides most of the structure for the bread. 
• Cocoa Powder: You can use dutch process cocoa powder or plain unsweetened cocoa powder. I love using Hershey’s Dark Chocolate cocoa powder for that extra umph!
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder: These are the leavening agents — they make the bread rise and create that lightness that makes this distinguishable as a bread rather than a brownie. I do not recommend subbing either of these ingredients. 
• Salt: Salt is the flavor that brings out the other flavors! Its job is to intensify the chocolate and vanilla notes in this bread. If you are missing the salt, you can just omit it. 
• Zucchini: The star of the show! You’ll need about 1 medium zucchini for this recipe. Shredded or grated zucchini adds moisture and flavor to your bread. You actually can sub the fresh zucchini (I know, right?). Yellow summer squash is indistinguishable from zucchini in terms of taste and texture. The only clue you’ll have that you made a change is that you won’t see those tell-tale green flecks in your bread. 
• Chocolate Chips: Feel free to play around here. I love semisweet chocolate chips in this recipe, but there’s no reason you can’t use milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips. Heck, peanut butter chips would work!

Step by Step Instructions(with notes and pictures)

Step 1 | Shred or Grate Zucchini

You do NOT need to peel your zucchini before you shred or grate it. You can shred your zucchini in a food processor. I do it the old elbow-grease way and use a box grater to grate the zucchini. Whether you have grated or shredded zucchini, you don’t want to squeeze or blot it before you use it. Many classic zucchini bread recipes tell you to do remove some of the water, but this recipe thrives on all that extra moisture to keep the bread moist and flavorful!

Step 2 | Mix the Wet Ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil, sour cream, sugars, eggs, vanilla, and zucchini. Mix the wet ingredients until they are well combined. 

Step 3 | Add the Dry Ingredients

Now add the dry ingredients! The flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 6 oz of your chocolate chips all get added to the wet mixture. You’re going to hold back about 2 oz of chocolate chips to make the drizzle. 

Be careful as you begin to stir — use the low speed setting. Otherwise, you can end up with a blizzard of flour and cocoa powder all over your kitchen. You do not want this. 

Mix the ingredients until they create a thick batter. This is what you’re shooting for:

Step 4 | Bake

Prep a loaf pan by either lining it with parchment paper or greasing and flouring it. Pour the chocolate batter into the greased loaf pan and use a rubber spatula to spread it out. You can also knock or drop it on the counter a few times to get some of the air bubbles out. Once you’ve got it ready, you can pop it in the oven at 350° for 45-50 minutes. It’s done when a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Step 5 | Drizzle and Enjoy!

Wait to do this until your bread has come out and has had a chance to cool for about 15 minutes. In a separate bowl, add your extra chocolate chips. To melt them in the microwave, microwave them in 30 second bursts, stirring between. Drizzle your melted chocolate over the top of the bread. There’s nothing like a melted chocolate drizzle to make this the most epic chocolate zucchini bread ever! Feel free to eat it warm, or allow it to cool to room temperature. 

​Tips:

• You can make chocolate bread mini-loaves by lowering the baking time to 25-30 minutes. 
• This makes delicious chocolate zucchini muffins! Just bake these in a lined muffin tin for 15-20 minutes!

More Delicious Quick Breads

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Grandma’s Old Fashioned Zucchini Bread

Apple Fritter Quick Bread

​FAQs