Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread

If there’s chocolate in my bread, it’s over. And by “over” I mean gone. The bread is gone, because I love a decadent, chocolatey bread!! This double chocolate zucchini bread is loaded with cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips and then drizzled with melted chocolate. YES. And it has a whole cup and a half of shredded zucchini in it! This bread is fluffy, moist, and reminds me of chocolate cake (minus the loads of sugar!). Seriously! If you’re looking for a simple, delicious, dairy-free zucchini bread then this loaf is for you. It can easily be made into muffins, too, if that’s more your thing (directions below)! Happy baking!

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Makes one 9×5″ loaf (see Notes for muffins)

Bread
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, room temp*
2 large eggs, room temp*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, chunks, or chopped chocolate
Chocolate Drizzle
2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips, chunks, or chopped chocolate
1-2 tsp coconut oil, solid

1.) Preheat oven to 350°F and spray loaf or muffin pan with olive oil. Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for ~10 minutes.

2.) Sift together the flours and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Whisk in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the coconut sugar, coconut oil, almond milk, eggs, and vanilla; set aside.

3.) Grate zucchini (with the skin on) until you have 1 1/2 cups. Place zucchini shreds on a paper towel and gently squeeze out and discard the excess juice; set aside.

4.) Stir wet ingredients into dry until nearly combined. Fold in the zucchini shreds and chocolate chips or chunks and mix until no flour pockets remain. Pour your batter into the greased pan. If you prefer topping your loaf with extra chocolate chips vs the chocolate drizzle, add the chips now and slightly press them into the batter. Bake for ~30 minutes or until the loaf bounces back when lightly tapped. If you prefer the toothpick method, be aware that the chocolate chips inside the loaf may alter your test.

5.) Allow your bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool on a cooling rack. If you turn your loaf pan over, the bread should pop right out. If you’ve added toppings, you can turn your loaf pan on its side and shimmy the loaf out with a butter knife – that way you don’t smash the toppings.

6.) After your bread has cooled, you can melt together the 2 Tbsp of chocolate chips and the coconut oil. Use a spoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over your loaf. Slice and enjoy!

*room temp is important, because you don’t want your melted coconut oil to solidfy once it hits the almond milk

NOTES:
To make ~10 regular muffins, reduce baking powder to 1/4 tsp, raise temp to 375°, and bake for 18-22 minutes or until muffin bounces back when lightly tapped

Recipe adapted from wyldflour