This Chocolate Zucchini Bread is so moist and delicious, you’d never guess it is gluten free, dairy free, high in protein and fiber, and has no refined sugar!
It’s zucchini season and this bread is the perfect way to use up all that extra from your garden! Actually, I have a brown thumb and can’t keep a garden alive, so I just use all of the extra zucchini from everyone else’s gardens. It pretty much my favorite job. 🙂
Really though, you HAVE to try this bread. It’s gluten free and paleo friendly, but even if you aren’t either of those things, you should definitely still give it a try. It’s low in sugar/carbs and high in fiber and protein, but it seriously tastes like dessert. My toddler calls it brownies and thinks I’m the coolest mom ever because I let him have it for breakfast. 🙂
It also makes a great treat to share. I like to triple the recipe so I have plenty of little loafs for our family and plenty to share with the neighbors. It’s always a hit!
Speaking of little loaves to share, make sure you have mini loaf pans (5 3/4″ x 3 1/4″) on hand. You’ll want to bake this bread in the mini loaves, not the usual big bread pans. I’ve made it in a big pan before, but by the time the middle is cooked well the outsides are burned and the bread just isn’t as moist. I just use these disposable aluminum pans and can’t recommend them enough. They make it super easy to share with the neighbors and they are so cheap (like $0.40 each) you never even have to worry about washing them. Just use them once and then recycle them when you are done. Right now you can get this pack of 60 on Amazon for less than $20! (affiliate link)
Anyway, happy baking! Hope you guys love this one as much as my family and my neighbors do. 🙂
- 1 medium zucchini, shredded (about 1½ cups shredded)
- 2 eggs, whisked
- ¾ cups almond butter*
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- *Can substitute peanut butter or another nut butter.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Shred your zucchini using a food processor or cheese grater. Remove all of the liquid from the zucchini by squeezing it between paper towels until it feels dry.
- Mix the zucchini with all of the other ingredients until they are combined and are a deep chocolate color.
- Pour the batter evenly into two mini loaf pans. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes,or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool, cut each load into 8 slices, and serve! Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.
1. Disposable Mini Loaf Pans: These cute mini loaf pans are perfect for this bread. I love that they are disposable, so I can easily give them away to neighbors, or just recycle them when our bread is gone. This set on Amazon comes with 60 pans for less than $20!
2. Almond Flour: If you’re an almond fan, you definitely need to have some almond flour in the house. It’s great in lots of gluten free recipes. I use this Bob’s Red Mill brand.
3. Almond Butter: If you’ve never tried almond butter, please run buy some right now. You can make your own just by grinding almonds in a food processor, my grocery store has a machine that grinds it fresh, or Justin’s brand is delicious. Really, go try some asap!
4. Food Processor: Speaking of food processors, I don’t have one and I want one bad! I just spent way to long looking at all the options on Amazon and daydreaming of having one in my kitchen. Honey, if you’re reading this, there’s this Hamilton Beach one for only $35 and it got awesome reviews! 🙂
LOOKING FOR MORE HEALTHY REAL FOOD RECIPES?
Dark Chocolate Brownies {gluten free}
Double Dark Chocolate Coconut Pie {gluten free}
Healthy Chocolate Swirl Banana Muffins
Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes {gluten free}
* Some link are affiliates. When you purchase a product through one of these links the cost for you is the same, but I receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!
Recipe looks great. I can’t wait to try it! If I wanted to make little individual ones in muffin tins instead would I need to adjust the bake time?
Hey Anita! Yes, if you did individual ones in muffin tins I’m sure the cooking time would be less. Just watch them closely and test them with a toothpick. Make sure you take them out when the toothpick comes out clean, but before they brown on the edges or they’ll be dry. I’d love it if you’d come back and let us know how it goes! 🙂
Can you use regular flour as I am not worried about gluten free.
Looks yummy! Can’t wait to try!!
Thanks
I’ve never tried it on this exact recipe, but I’m guessing it would be fine. If you try it definitely report back and let us know how it turns out!
hi i always love lots of recipes like this one, but am not allowed nuts, is there any alternatives i could use instead, as it really does rule out of recipes especialy when you are gluten free.
Can you have sunflower seeds? If so I bet sunbutter would work. Or maybe coconut butter?
How well does this scale up? I need to make about 30.
Hey Stephanie! I’ve doubled the recipe with no problems, but that’s as much as I’ve done. I’m guessing it’d work fine though. Good luck and definitely let me know how it goes!
Hi there
Do I need to remove the skin of the zucchini and discard before shredding?
Thanks!
J
Hi! Nope, I leave the skin on! 🙂
Amazing, thank you!
The oven is on and your reply is perfectly timed!
Hey there. As a young person, who can be very picky, it’s hard to find healthier versions of things that I’ll like. So I’m wondering if the zucchini is really evident in taste? Thanks:)
Hi Nikki! I promise you can’t even taste it! Just shred/chop the zucchini super fine and you won’t even know it’s there. 🙂
Hi Tiffany!
Thanks for posting this zucchini recipe. I just made it and it taste so good!
I passed this recipe onto my mom in law. i hadn’t made it yet, but she said she would for my next visit. I loved it! its moist and feels like a total cheat, without the actual guilt. Finding gluten free, dairy free recipes is heard. thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the awesome recipe! I substituted Agave for the honey and added in chocolate chips. Made them into muffins. Can’t…stop…eating! Brilliant use of ingredients!
So happy to hear that Lizzy!
Has anyone tried putting the zucchini in a vitamin or really pureeing it? I think if my kid sees green he may be turned off the first time. I am trying to make this with out him knowing what is in it the first time. 🙂
Hey Christie! If you’re worried about the green color, I’d recommend peeling your zucchini first. Your kids will never know. 😉
I used yellow summer squash and you can’t see it at all!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Kairi!
Hi Tiffany, I’m so excited to try this recipe this afternoon! Any ideas on what I could sub for the honey? I’m pretty strict about my sugar intake. I do have Torani sugar free syrup. I was thinking maybe I would do have that and half honey – my only concern is that the torani is a thinner consistency than honey. Any thoughts? If I can’t come up with something, I will just use honey, and try to stick to one serving at a time 😉
Thanks!
Hey Erika! I’ve never tried a substitute for the honey. You may need to adjust the almond flour if using a thinner consistency sweetener. If you try it, definitely report back and let us know how it goes!
Can you substitute coconut flour for the almond flour?
Hi Tracy! That should work, but I’ve never tried it. Let us know if you give it a try!
I made it with coconut flour (same amount) and they were delicious 🙂
Hi Tracy did you try this, I was wondering also if you could you gluten free flour
I used gluten free flour and they turned out great.
Any substitute for the honey? I try to use Stevia for more things these days and just wasn’t sure if that could be subbed.
Stevia should work fine in this recipe.
Hi, does this recipe seriously only use two tablespoons of almond flour? Thanks
Yep! Sounds weird, but the result is awesome! 🙂
Can I use peanut butter instead? I’m currently out of almond. Thx 🙂
Peanut butter should work fine Grace!
This was delicious! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Just made this today! Extremely delicious recipe. I did things a little differently and it still turned out great.
I did a little under a half cup of grade A maple syrup instead of honey. Used self rising flour instead of the coconut flour + baking powder. Ended up adding about an extra tablespoon or two of flour to thicken my batter a tad. My zucchini was more or less blended (due to an awful grater and doing half in the magic bullet).
Worked like a charm though, and is helping me cure my chocolate/sweets craving!
That’s awesome Debbie! Thanks for reporting back!
Yummo! Made these into mini muffins and just reduced the time to 15 minutes and they are so light and fluffy but full of flavour. Very easy to make. So hard to find a sweet treat that is both gluten free and refined sugar free. Thank you
I love hearing that Amanda! You are so welcome!
Just made it. Amazing delicious!
I love hearing that Heba! Thanks for leaving a comment!
I made these today with only a minor substitution: I ran out of honey, so I only used less than 1/4 cup of it and added a small (probably 1/4 to 1/3 cup) bit of mini chocolate chips to help sweeten it a bit. It was really good. Not sweet. The chocolate chips were great to add bursts of chocolatelyness and in the future I’ll add them again.
My kids (2 and 4 years old) said that they didn’t like the bread very much (because it wasn’t sweet), but they kept eating it! It’s great. The recipe is a keeper. Boggles my mind how it’s so cake-like without much of any flour!
Thanks!
I made them in to muffins last night! 15 min in the oven and they were ready. Awesome recipe, my kids love them! Definitely will make them again 😉
Thanks for sharing!! <3
hello….just became a fan of zucchini bread….I have always avoided zucchini until recently….I just made this bread (chocolate is more palatable!) and it is delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I made one larger bread instead of two small loaves….a little longer baking time but definitely worth it. If I could I would share a picture…mine does not look like yours and I think it is because I didn’t shred zucchini enough…..I won’t make that mistake again!
I love this recipe. The mini loaf tins, brilliant!! My breads tend to be not quite done in the middle and dry at the ends. These bake up moist and delicious. Mine baked for about 27 minutes. I doubled the recipe and added walnuts to two. I used gluten free flour because that’s what I had. They popped right out of the tin. The rest will be easy to freeze for a vacation coming up. Thank you Tiffany!
I made mine the other night and I used a normal size bread lain. I cooked it for about 35 mins and it was flat and super moist (aslkost under baked) How long do you think for a regular size pan?
I’ve never made this in a regular sized pan, but it seems like when I’ve done banana bread in a full sized pan it takes more like 45-50 minutes.
I made this today for a friend whose daughter has a milk allergy; it was a hit with our toddlers! I substituted with peanut butter and regular flour, and clover honey because that was all I had on hand. Also baked in a regular loaf pan for 25 minutes, and it turned out perfect! Thanks for a tasty, healthy, and guilt-free chocolate recipe!
Made it today, turned out great. Thanks