This chocolate zucchini bread recipe came about after senior food editor Christina Chaey posed an existential question in the test kitchen one random Tuesday: “What is the point of zucchini bread?” Reader, I slow-blinked. What is the point of zucchini bread?! Is it a celebration of mild-tasting and moisture-filled zucchini? A frantic ploy to keep up with summer’s copious supply? An attempt at enticing picky eaters to eat their vegetables?
This extra-chocolaty version makes a case for all of the above. It’s tall, stately, and fills out the pan handsomely (ain’t nobody got time for short, squat quick bread); just sweet enough, with a thread of warming cinnamon; and loaded with bits of chocolate melting into the crumb. Perhaps even more appealing is the fact that there’s no fussy step requiring you to squeeze and strain the liquid out of the grated zucchini. Cocoa powder—starchy and intensely absorbent—does a bang-up job of soaking up all of that excess moisture. Choose slim, tender squash—they tend to be less watery and have fewer seeds.
A note on cocoa powder: Make sure you use Dutch-process (also sometimes known as “alkalized” or “European style”) unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe. Natural (read: not-alkalized) cocoa powder won’t provide the same chocolate flavor and requires a different balance of leaveners to lighten a chocolate cake—I mean quick bread recipe.
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What you’ll need
Instant-Read Thermometer
$35 At Thermoworks
Loaf Pan
$20 $19 At Amazon
Scale
$27 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
Makes one 9x5" loaf
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 325°. Coat a 9x5" loaf pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray and line with parchment paper, leaving generous overhang on long sides. If using, toast 1 cup (115 g) walnuts on a small rimmed baking sheet, toasting halfway through, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
Step 2
Whisk 2 large eggs, 1 cup (packed; 200 g) light brown sugar, ¾ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup (32 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 2 tsp. vanilla extract, and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon in a large bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes. Vigorously whisk in ½ tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. baking soda.
Step 3
Add 1 lb. zucchini (about 4 small), scrubbed, grated on the large holes of a box grater, to batter and stir to combine. Add 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (190 g) semisweet chocolate chips, and walnuts (if using) and stir again just until no large dry streaks of flour remain. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. raw or granulated sugar evenly over top.
Step 4
Bake zucchini bread, rotating pan front to back halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should registers 200°), 60–80 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let bread cool in pan. Run a small offset spatula or knife around sides of bread to help loosen, then turn out onto a platter.
Do ahead: Bread can be baked 2 days ahead. Store uncut bread loosely covered at room temperature. Once sliced, store airtight and chill.
Recipe notes
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