This chocolate chip zucchini bread has it all! Naturally sweetened with honey, packed with zucchini, and studded with rich chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts, it’s a treat you (and your taste buds) can feel good about.
I love baking with zucchini! It sort of melts into batters, contributing fabulous moisture and a subtle, earthy sweetness that I am SO into. Whether it’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins for breakfast or Zucchini Chocolate Chip Brownies for dessert, I’m obsessed. I have to be honest, though…this chocolate chip zucchini bread might just be my favorite. Made with whole wheat flour, naturally sweetened with honey, and packed with zucchini, it’s unbelievably moist and perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. And did I mention that each and every bite is bursting with dark chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts!?
What are you waiting for? With its au naturel ingredients and hidden veggies, this chocolate chip zucchini bread is a treat you can savor anytime, anywhere. Enjoy it as a snack, a dessert, or even for breakfast!
Why This Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Is a Total Win
This isn’t your average zucchini bread. It’s rich, tender, and loaded with melty chocolate chips that take it firmly into dessert territory. This is the kind of loaf you’ll “make for the week” and find mysteriously half gone by tomorrow.
- Chocolate in every bite. Those dark chocolate chips melt into the warm, spiced crumb and turn a humble loaf into something you’ll actually daydream about.
- Soft, plush texture. Thanks to the zucchini and applesauce, every slice stays moist and tender. Never dry, never crumbly.
- Perfectly spiced. A hint of cinnamon and nutmeg brings cozy warmth, while the honey adds a rich, caramel-like sweetness that lingers in the best way.
- That walnut crunch. It’s subtle, but just enough to keep each bite interesting and totally snackable.
What You’ll Need
Ready to bake? Get yourself to the store and pick up the following ingredients. You’ll find precise measurements in the recipe card below.
- White whole wheat flour – A quality 1:1 gluten-free flour would also work.
- Leavening agents – Baking powder and baking soda. Using a combination yields the perfect rise.
- Salt – To balance out the sweetness of the quick bread.
- Spices – I used ground cinnamon and nutmeg. I love the way these warm, cozy spices complement the earthy sweetness of the zucchini.
- Raw honey – Raw honey has the best flavor, in my opinion. You can use regular honey in a pinch. Maple syrup would work too.
- Unsweetened applesauce – The applesauce contributes moisture to the zucchini bread as well as additional structure. I mean it when I say “unsweetened,” by the way!
- Coconut oil – Make sure you grab refined coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil has a much stronger coconut flavor that can be overwhelming. Not a coconut oil person? Try avocado oil instead!
- Egg – Allow your egg to come to room temperature before using. It’ll mix into the batter more easily.
- Vanilla extract – The vanilla contributes a subtle warmth and depth to the flavor profile.
- Grated zucchini – I would aim for small to medium-sized zucchini for the best flavor and texture.
- Dark chocolate chips – You could use semi-sweet, milk, or white chocolate chips instead.
- Chopped walnuts – Or pecans. I love the little bit of crunch they offer.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Time to get this party started! Here’s a brief overview of how to make this easy quick bread. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card below for more thorough instructions.
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F, grease the bottom and sides of an 8×4-inch loaf pan, and lightly dust it with flour.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, leavening agents, salt, and spices.
- Combine the wet ingredients. Whisk together the honey, applesauce, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla.
- Put it all together. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Squeeze. Squeeze the grated zucchini (with your hands or a cheesecloth) to remove any excess liquid.
- Fold. Fold the zucchini, chocolate chips, and walnuts into the batter.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Tips For Success
Striving for bakery-level-good zucchini bread? Follow these tips and tricks, and you’ll be on your way:
- Grease and flour the pan. I mean it! Grease the pan with coconut oil, butter, or PAM, and then dust it with flour. Shake any excess flour away and you’re set to jet. Skipping these steps will make it nearly impossible to get the loaf out of the pan.
- Measure the flour carefully. Using too much or too little flour WILL negatively impact the texture of this bread. In order to get it right, use a food scale. If you don’t have one, spoon the flour into the measuring cup/s and then level it off with the back of a knife.
- Don’t over-mix. When combining the wet and dry ingredients, and then again when folding the zucchini, chocolate, and walnuts into the batter, mix just until everything is incorporated. Mixing past this point can cause the glutens in the flour to overdevelop, resulting in a tough, overly dense zucchini loaf.
- Squeeze, please. After grating the zucchini, squeeze out as much liquid as you can using a cheesecloth (or your hands). If you skip this step, the liquid from the zucchini will seep out into the batter as it bakes, resulting in soggy, gummy bread.
Variation Ideas
Don’t be afraid to tweak this recipe a bit to make it your own. Here are some ideas for you:
- Make ’em muffins. You can turn pretty much any quick bread into muffins. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners and distribute the batter between them. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- A flavor twist. Drop the chocolate and walnuts and, instead, fold in white chocolate chips, pistachios, and a dash or two of cardamom for a sophisticated flair.
- Chocolate on chocolate. Chocolate chips not enough for you? Consider folding in some cocoa powder. You’ll need ~1/4 cup. Check out my recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread to see how it’s done.
How to Store
- Countertop. Once the zucchini bread has cooled to room temperature, seal it in an airtight container (or wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap). It will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freezer. You can also wrap the zucchini bread (the whole thing or slices) in a double layer of plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to dive back in, let it thaw on the counter first.
I do not recommend storing leftover zucchini bread in the fridge. It will dry out.
More Quick Breads to Try
If you’re looking for more amazing quick bread recipes, I’ve got you covered. Here are a few of my faves:
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 pieces 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This chocolate chip zucchini bread has it all! Sweetened with honey, packed with zucchini, and studded with dark chocolate and walnuts, it’s a treat you (and your taste buds) can feel good about.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup grated zucchini (about 1 1/2 zucchinis), squeeze liquid out of zucchini
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare a 8×4 loaf pan by greasing the bottom and sides (you can grease with coconut oil, butter, or PAM cooking spray) Lightly dust with flour and shake out excess flour.
- In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Whisk together.
- In a large bowl, add honey, unsweetened applesauce, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until smooth.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until everything is combined.
- Squeeze grated zucchini to remove any excess liquid.
- Fold in the zucchini, chocolate chip, and walnuts.
- Add the batter to prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 258
- Sugar: 19 g
- Sodium: 166 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 17 mg
69 comments on “Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread”
The recipe is almost perfect. I made this last week following almost all ingredients and directions, the only thing I changed was the oil and timing. I used Canola and it was fine and added another 5 minutes. I do have to say though that I thought that 2 teaspoons of cinnamon is a bit too much and I love cinnamon. I do really like the honey and applesauce instead of sugar.
Last night I decided to make another loaf because I gave most of the last to friends and so I altered the cinnamon a tad by using only 1 1/2 teaspoons and also added a pinch of allspice, baked it without opening and cooking for 5 minutes more, so 55 minutes and now, this loaf is the best I have ever made!
This recipe is so good! I actually make muffins instead. It makes about 12 muffins. I bake at 350 for 22-25 mins. Perfect for kids lunches- they love them! 👍🏻
Hi – is the flour measurement the same if you use almond flour? I was excited to make this today, but unfortunately it never baked properly & was complete mush. I squeezed the excess water from the zucchini thoroughly & ended up baking it for 2x the amount of time the recipe calls for – still mush :-(.
Hey Elyce, no it would not be the same measurements for almond flour. This recipe is for whole wheat flour, all purpose or 1:1 gluten free baking flour. It will not work for almond or coconut flour.
I absolutely love this recipe! Yum Yum.
Hi! Making this today! Do you ring out the zucchini or leave with water in it?
I usually try to squeeze the liquid out, otherwise the bread won’t rise.
I don’t have coconut oil, could I use canola oil instead?
yes, canola oil would work in this recipe too.
Okay, so I followed the recipe but substituted the flour for coconut flour. I have a friend who uses almond flour and she said it turned out great. Well it tastes good, but literally crumbled into a billion pieces. So much for getting the kids to eat it. I tried to say they are like cake pops when I made it into a ball 😂. Could be me, but I’m gonna try again, just not with coconut flour. Any idea why it did that?
Yes. This recipe does not translate to coconut flour. Coconut flour usually needs twice the amount of wet ingredients than normal flour does. In other words you’d have to use a completely different recipe if you’re making this with coconut flour. If you want to make it GF I’d use a 1:1 GF baking flour and that will come out perfectly.
Hi, this looks amazing! Is there any way to make it without the egg? I’m vegan and have heard applesauce or a mashed banana can be used in replacement, however, this already calls for applesauce. I’m wondering if I could omit the egg entirely or if it would be better to use a substitute.
Thanks!
Hey Kelsie. I would use a flax egg. Which is 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water, stir and let sit and until it thickens then just add to the batter.
This is pretty good, but too sweet. I’m wondering if it would bake as nicely with half the choc chips, half the honey, and more zucchini to replace the moisture from the honey?
Thanks.
You could definitely try that if you thought it was too sweet.
Thought this recipe was super yummy, from what I could taste. I followed the directions exactly and cooked it for 40min to be safe but it wasn’t done in the middle. I cooked it for an additional 10min and it still wasn’t done so I cooked it for 10 more and it still wasn’t done in the middle! I see some other folks had this issue too, am I doing something wrong? I used a 8×4 loaf pan but should I use a different one? Did I possibly stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients too much?
No. I have actually modified the recipe since then. The zucchini when baked was making the bread super moist and leaving it uncooked in the middle, if you squeeze some of the liquid out before adding the grated zucchini to the batter it comes out perfect!
This looks so good! But I have a couple of questions, why use both baking powder and soda, and can I sub it for all-purpose flour and still get the same results?
I use both to get the “rise” for the bread and yes you can definitely use all purpose if you’d like
I have made this several times now! It is a big hit with the whole family and I feel like I’m sneaking some healthy foods into dessert. 😉 Love your recipes! Thanks for sharing.
haha.. yeah for mom wins! Love it Lindsey!
Do you squeeze out excess juice from your zucchini once it is grated or do just put it in just as it is once you grate it. Please let me know.
I squeeze it out so that the bread cooks correctly. Hope that helps.
Hi,
Can I substitute gluten-free flour?
Thanks!
you sure can!
Sorry I see there are several comments but I am a little confused about what pan to use. Is it a 8×4 or 9×5 loaf pan? An 8×8 would be a square pan but that doesn’t make sense because the photos show that it is a loaf. ?? Looks great but if you could please clarify that would be awesome! 🙂
sorry anna it should say 8×4 loaf pan. I’ll edit the directions for clarity!
Not done in middle after 55 minutes. Trying for 10 more.
Love the photography. It definitely drew me in. Made a double recipe so we could eat one now and freeze one for later. My kids loved it, but for all of the ingredients it required (who keeps coconut oil in their pantry? and why would you want to?) I expected more. The baking temperature was either too hot or the cook time was too long as they come out very dark and crunchy on the outside under the conditions described. The recipe also calls for an 8×8 loaf pan. But all the pictures are clearly not from an 8×8 pan. What kind of loaf pan is square?
Hey KE, sorry about that. The 8×8 was a typo I changed it to 8×4 which is what is should be and what the photos show. 🙂 Glad you’re kids liked the recipe.
It also doesn’t day how much to fill the pan and whether or not to strain the zucchini… might help with the cooking
You’re going to fill the loaf pan the entire way, this recipe is for a loaf of zucchini bread. I just updated the recipe to reflect to squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini. 🙂 Hope this helps. Thanks Charlie!
Great recipe, I would just like to add a warning to people to actually use the 8 by 8 pan! I put it in the loaf pan. Maybe it was also my oven, but the top passed the tooth pick test but turns out the bottom layer was still raw! This is a dense bread and needs the surface area to cook. The part j got to taste before I had to throw it out was amazing, though 🙁
Ohhh so glad you liked the flavor. Major bummer that the bread didn’t turn out. I’m actually gonna be making it again this weekend so I’ll make adjustments to the recipe if it needs a longer cook time. Thanks Melissa!
This is exactly what happened to me, passed the toothpick test, but after 55 minutes still raw on the inside. I was so looking forward to it, as it looked so good!
I have since updated the recipe to squeeze the zucchini before hand. hope that helps.
Wow! Made this today as muffins, made 11 good size. I didn’t have nutmeg so added extra cinnamon. I also added 1/4 cup of unsweetened roasted coconut. Absolutely amazing!
YUM!!! Totally gonna do that next time I make these!
Hi,
what exactly is applesauce? Can i substitute it with something else ? This looks delicious.
Kind Regards,
Abhik
applesauce is cooked and pureed apples, you could probably just omit the applesauce if you don’t want to use it. It will still be super moist from the zucchini.
This bread is amazing! So chocolately which you wouldn’t expect with the only chocolate coming for the chips. I left out the walnuts cuz I’m not a big fan of nuts in my breads but still delicious regardless. My husband wasn’t a fan but he’s like a toddler when it comes to eating veggies. My nephew, an actual toddler, LOVED it! 🙂
haha… oh my gosh. I’m totally sitting here cracking up at your toddler comments! LOVE it! So glad you and the actual toddler enjoyed it. 🙂 I know my little guy loves this bread too, but he’s like me… addicted to chocolate.. hehe 🙂
Very yummy recipe! Will definitely be one of my new go to bread/muffin recipes! I say muffin because I it made it into 36 mini-muffins, which I baked for 13 minutes to perfection. I love the hint of nutmeg in them too! Beautifully moist and delicious! Oh, I had a little too much zucchini grated so I used 2 cups instead of the amount called for, didn’t seem to matter.
OH… look at you. GREAT idea Leola! I need to try that. The hint of nutmeg is my favorite. I love adding nutmeg to baked goods. 🙂
SO yummy. Zucchini bread is amazing, and I would love to try making my own!
Once you make your own, you’ll be hooked!
My new favorite zucchini bread recipe. My kids loved it too. I gave it to them as desert! 😆
Hurray! So glad to hear that Lindsay! It’s perfect for breakfast, snack or dessert! woot Woot! 🙂
Ready to make this–it sounds so yummy! Please confirm the pan size??? My loaf pan is 9×5???
Hey Sandy, yes I have a 9×5 as well. So you’re good to go!
Beautiful list of ingredients. LOVE!! Thanks for the recipe!
– MAK
Thanks Margaret Ann!
Oh, I hear you on the list thing. I, too, write things down just so I can cross them off! Well, you can certainly cross off “post perfect zucchini bread” because this looks so good.
haha… hurray! I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one! And yes … best zucchini bread is checked off the list! 🙂
oh man, I am the QUEEN of writing stuff on my list that I’ve already done and crossing it off. so satisfying! What is wrong with us!! haha. Your list sounds daunting and very similar to mine, and makes me want to take a nap. OR just netflix with a plate of this warm bread.<<that please.
Haha.. it really is. I just need to feel like I did something! Ya know! 🙂
I’m pretty sure we need to meet up, tear up our lists, make a bowl of soup, some warm bread and binge watch netflix. Deal?
I love zucchini bread, especially with chocolate. This looks absolutely amazing.
Chocolate and Zucchini is the BEST combo ever!
Yum! I have a recipe for regular zucchini bread, but I’m crazy for chocolate, so I love that you added chocolate chips.
Thanks Dee! Chocolate and zucchini were made for each other! 🙂
ucchini bread is the best! It is a must every year with my zucchini!
Amen to that!
Ohhh, Mama, I told myself I would not make zucchini bread with all the zucchini I have from the garden but you are making me re-evaluate life! Sooo good!
haha… do it! Give me .. it will be the best decision you ever make!
Seriously looks like the best zucchini bread ever! LOVE it!
Thanks girl!
I wish I could just reach into the screen and grab a slice right now! Now I really can’t wait till we start getting lots of zucchini from our CSA!
haha.. right! Bring on the zucchini!
AMEN!!! I am the same way with lists—they cover all the fun things I want to do and all the productive things. Give me a break, freedom and ALL THE ZUCCHINI BREAD!