Rich, moist and insanely fudgy! This gluten free chocolate zucchini bread is easily one of the tastiest ways to use up your extra squash this zucchini season. Gluten Free + Dairy Free + Egg Free/Vegan Options
Let’s be real:
This Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread is really just a chocolate cake cosplaying as a humble zucchini loaf.
Which is fitting really when you consider that zucchini is actually a fruit pretending to be a vegetable – botanically speaking.
You can call it a bread, a cake – whatever you want. Either way you’ll be calling it delicious after just one bite!
Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread
What’s to love about this chocolate zucchini bread?
Good question! I mean – aside from the fact that you get to make a chocolate cake with all your extra zucchini hanging around – it’s:
- easy to make with with basic ingredients
- lightly sweetened with brown sugar
- rich and moist, but not too heavy and dense
- been tested with multiple food allergies in mind (dairy free, egg free, and nut free)
How to Make this chocolate zucchini bread recipe
More Ways to Bake with Zuccini
Altogether, this is an incredibly easy recipe without too much required.
Equipment:
- couple of mixing bowls – one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients
- box grater or food processor with a grating attachment (ideal)
- good whisk or a handheld mixer (recommended)
- 9×5 inch loaf pan greased well or lined with parchment paper
Steps
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten free all purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, xanthan gum (if your flour blend doesn’t already contain any), baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients (plus brown sugar). In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar, yogurt and vanilla extract until combined.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl and mix until fully combined.
- Note: The batter will look and feel quite thick here. You can absolutely do this by hand – I did when making the chocolate bread here – but you may find it easier to use a hand or stand mixer.
- Stir in the zucchini. Mix the shredded zucchini until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Bake, then add more chocolate. Spoon the batter in a prepared bread pan and bake for about 50 minutes. After you take the loaf out of the oven, sprinkle the top with dark chocolate chips. Let cool on a wire rack a bit before slicing and enjoy!
Quick Tips & FAQ’s
Here are a few useful tips and things to keep in mind for success:
How do I correctly measure the grated zucchini?
- For best results and the most accurate conversions and measurements, it’s always best to use a kitchen scale – especially when it comes to gluten-free baking. If you don’t have a kitchen scale then using a measuring cup is will still do the trick!
- As a general rule of thumb: One loosely-packed and blotted cup of zucchini weighs about 4 oz or 115 grams. This is the amount I use in all my zucchini recipes.
Do I have to add xanthan gum?
- Yes, I do recommend it for this recipe, unless your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan in the ingredient list.
- Xanthan gum helps create structural support and binding that you would typically get from regular flour (gluten containing). When I tested this recipe without xanthan gum, it fell apart quite easily. So while it tasted great – it was kind of a mess.
What Type of Flour Do I Need?
- Any gluten free flour all purpose blend should work here! If I’m not using my own homemade flour blend, I’m usually Dove’s Plain Gluten Free Flour. It’s the most affordable and accessible to me and I find it to be quite reliable.
- If you’d want a grain free option: I recommend you check out my paleo zucchini bread (made with almond flour and coconut flour). It doesn’t contain any chocolate or cacao powder, but you can always mix in some chopped chocolate for a chocolate chip zucchini bread.
Can I Make This a Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread?
Absolutely!
You can easily make this recipe vegan friendly with a few simple swaps:
- dairy free yogurt instead of regular yogurt
- use flax eggs for a quick and easy egg substitute
- ensure your chocolate chips are vegan friendly
The chocolate loaf pictured below was made with these vegan substitutions. The only noticeable difference is that the chocolate zucchini loaf made with flax eggs didn’t rise as much.
Recipe
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Yield:
1 9-inch loaf
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
50 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour 5 minutes
This gluten free chocolate zucchini bread is easily one of the tastiest ways to use up your extra zucchini this summer.
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend (140g)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (60g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (leave out if your flour blend already contains xanthan)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs or 2 flax eggs (see notes)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil (60ml)
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt, dairy free if needed (60g)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar (165g)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini, lightly blotted dry (170g | 6oz)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, dairy free if needed (85 g)
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease or line a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs (or flax eggs), oil, yogurt, brown sugar and vanilla extract until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix together into a thick, lump-free batter until fully combined.
- Mix in the grated zucchini until evenly distributed.
- Spoon the batter into your lined and greased loaf tin. Spread evenly across the pan. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until the loaf has risen and is cooked through. To check for doneness, insert a knife or tooth pick into the centre of the bread. If it comes out clean with only a few crumbs, it's done.
- Remove from the oven. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top while it's hot. Let cool about 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer the loaf to a wire cooling rack until cool enough to slice and enjoy.
Notes
- Make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder and not dutch processed cocoa powder. Unsweetened cocoa powder is acidic and will react to the baking soda which helps to leaven the bread. Gluten free bakes need all the extra leavening help they can get!
- Make it egg free: use two flax egg in place of the eggs.
- Make it dairy free: Use a dairy free/vegan yogurt. I used plain coconut yogurt in the bread pictured here.
- Store it: Wrap up leftovers and keep at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freeze it: Let bread cool completely then wrap up in plastic wrap and foil and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Check out my Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffin Recipe if you’d like this loaf in muffin form!
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