This super moist and rich double chocolate zucchini bread tastes like dessert but is secretly healthy, Paleo, free of refined sugar, grain free, gluten free and dairy free. It’s kid approved and great for snacks and even breakfast!
Double chocolate zucchini bread – tastes like chocolate cake but is WAY healthier, with enough nutrients for breakfast!
This is an older recipe that everyone loved that I tweaked and updated recently.
The changes are minor but give the bread better rise and a bit more sweetness. Plus, there are a few great paleo friendly chocolate chip options now, so no need to make your own!
Let’s get into all the chocolatey details!
What You Need to Make this Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
This easy quick bread uses ingredients you might already have on hand if you’re familiar with paleo baking.
Here’s everything you’ll need to prepare this chocolate zucchini bread:
- blanched almond flour
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- fine sea salt
- baking soda
- eggs
- maple sugar or coconut sugar
- refined coconut oil
- smooth almond butter or cashew butter
- pure vanilla extract
- fresh zucchini
- dark chocolate chips, paleo friendly
How to Make This Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a medium loaf pan with parchment paper
In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, then set aside
In a large bowl, whisk or blend together the coconut oil, nut butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet until just moistened (batter should be quite thick) then fold in the shredded zucchini, then the chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter to the parchment lined loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
Cool the loaf on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then gently remove the loaf by holding both sides of the parchment paper and continue to cool completely on the wire rack before slicing.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
One last baking note on the zucchini! Since zucchini contains tons of water, you’ll want to squeeze out as much as possible before mixing it into the batter.
I shredded my zucchini using my food processor attachment, then allowed it to sit in a paper-towel lined bowl while I prepared the batter.
Right before adding it in, I squeezed a ton of water out of it between paper towels, THEN measured to make sure I had the right amount.
I hope you’re ready to bake – I can’t wait for you to try this bread! Let’s go!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread {Paleo, GF, DF}
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread {Paleo, GF, DF}
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups blanched almond flour
- 6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/4 cup organic coconut oil melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1/4 cup smooth almond butter or cashew butter, unsalted
- 2/3 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 medium zucchini peeled (if desired) and finely shredded - 1 3/4 -2 cups shredded), water squeezed out with paper towels
- 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips homemade or Enjoy Life brand
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a medium loaf pan with parchment paper on the bottom and up the sides.
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In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside
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in a large bowl, whisk or blend together the coconut oil, almond butter, coconut sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet until just moistened (batter should be thick) then fold in the shredded zucchini, then the chocolate chips.
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Transfer the batter to the parchment lined loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.
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Cool the loaf on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then gently remove the loaf by holding both sides of the parchment paper and continue to cool completely on the wire rack before slicing. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*Use refined coconut oil to avoid coconut flavor, if desired. I love this one.
Nutrition
Want More Paleo Bread and Muffin Recipes? Try one of these!
Double Chocolate Banana Muffins with Tahini
Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bread
Simple Almond Butter Blueberry Muffins
Almond Butter Banana Muffins with Flaxseed
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Any thoughts on making these into muffins? Would you alter or do any ingredients differently?
You can definitely make them muffins – no ingredients would change but I’d watch them and probably bake 20-25 minutes or until they rise and a toothpick comes out of one clean of batter (melted chocolate is okay)
This was a huge hit as muffins. Even my picky three-year-old who would not eat it as a loaf scarfed them up as muffins and said they were so good! Definitely something to try. muffins apparently make everything better to kiddos haa haa haa thank you so much for this recipe, it has definitely been a huge hit in my home
I tried subbing maple syrup for the coconut sugar, added an extra 1/2 cup of almond flour to offset the extra liquid, and made them as muffins and they didn’t bake well; they seemed to never really cook in the centre. I’ll have to try again.
Hmm, sorry this didn’t work out, hopefully next time 🙂
Maple syrup is too wet. Try using maple sugar.
I just bought a giant zucchini from the farmers market and I can’t wait to try this! I don’t have coconut sugar – can I use maple syrup?
I haven’t tried this with a liquid sweetener so not sure how it would change the texture, I would add less (maybe 6 Tbsp) if you try it out and perhaps increase the almond flour by a tbsp or two. Let me know how it goes!
Holy cow. This. Is. Amazing!!! I used sun butter and maple syrup. I took your advice and a did 6 T of maple syrup and threw in a little bit more almond flour. Not knowing what the original recipe texture is like, I thought it turned out great! Super moist, dense, and rich. I kind of hope that nobody else in the house likes it…
About how many calories on each slice do you think?
I don’t calculate nutrition for my recipes but if you input into this calculator you should get a good idea: https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594
Obsessed with this recipe! I’ve made this twice now. This time around I actually frosted it with a paleo chocolate/avocado frosting I made, turning this into TRIPLE chocolate zucchini bread. No regrets. Cake. I’m having cake for breakfast this week.
Hi, Can you tell me how many calories in a serving and what that serving size is?
thanks
I had a really hard time getting this to not be raw in the middle. Did I not squeeze enough liquid out of the zucchini? I have baked it almost an hour and a half now and it’s still gooey. Any thoughts? I’d hate to have to throw it away.
Sounds like the dry/wet ratio was off for some reason but I can’t say exactly why. It could’ve been the zucchini wasn’t drained enough but it’s possible the flour measurement was slightly off or the brand has a different consistency. It’s hard to say. Sorry this didn’t work out for you!
It’s okay, I’m going to try again and really squeeze the heck out of the zucchini this time. The ends were okay to eat, and the taste was incredible so I want to give it one more try. I’ve just really had a hard time getting some gluten free recipes to work for me. I used to always think I was a good baker until I started trying to bake gluten free. I’ll keep trying though!
Maybe try baking as muffins instead of a loaf?
Hi Michelle – I am diabetic and need to avoid any type of sugar including maple and coconut as they are so high in carbs. I have been using stevia and erythritol in my baking – what would you suggest as a good sub for sugar in your recipes? Thanks, Claire 🙂
I’m not sure of the amounts exactly since I haven’t baked with those sweeteners, but I would say for most, if not all, as long as you sub either liquid or granulated to go with the recipe, it should work out. Apologies for not knowing the amounts for those particular sweeteners!
Thank you for sharing this scrumptious recipe. I baked it today after recently completing a Whole30. Yum! I also made the suggested Paleo chocolate chunks, which were super easy and taste like fudge. Thank you again!
I made these into muffins and they were a HUGE HIT with the kids and adults! I used 1/2 cup of almond butter and a bit more coconut oil than suggested. I didn’t even drain my zucchini and they were incredible. Will definitely be making these again!
So thrilled you liked them!
Made this last night with dutch process cocoa and Guittard extra dark baking chips (GF/DF; not paleo). It was fudgy and exactly what I needed to curb my craving. This one is going on a regular rotation … just not too often 😉