This is the best Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread that is moist, rich, fudgy and tastes like actual chocolate cake! The recipe is super easy to make in one bowl and can be made gluten-free too! Serve with homemade caramel sauce, you’ll have the perfect dessert!
Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread
If you’re not a fan of zucchini yet, this recipe will change your mind! I mean, look at how chocolatey, moist and rich this loaf looks but it tastes even better than that! I assure you, it is so incredibly delicious, no one will ever notice that it contains shredded zucchini.
Actually, the real secret behind the perfect texture of this super tasty chocolate zucchini bread is the hidden vegetables inside. Seriously veggies and fruits, such as pumpkin purée, mashed banana, apple sauce or zucchini add so much softness and moisture in any vegan bread or cake. If you’ve tried my moist carrot cake or best chocolate banana bread yet, you know what I am talking about.
Anyway, this is not only a really great way to get your greens but also to use up extra zucchini. The only thing you need to know before starting this recipe is if you double the recipe to make more than just one loaf. You should definitely keep in mind that this bread will be gone quicker than you can make the vegan caramel sauce for the topping!
How to make Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread
As mentioned before this recipe is very easy to make! And you know, what that means?! The easier and quicker the recipe, the more we love it, right? So let’s start making it!
All you need to make this veggie-loaded chocolate cake loaf are just a few simple basic ingredients, plus chocolate and zucchini, of course! You don’t need a food processor, mixer, blender or any special kitchen utensils, just a box grater. Actually, the batter comes together in less than 5 minutes! Just shred the zucchini, mix the ingredients, bake and enjoy!
Tips for perfect Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Sift the dry ingredients
I highly recommend sifting the dry ingredients because sifting prevents lumps of flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Actually, when you have lumps in the batter you’ll need to mix more as needed until the ingredients are combined. So you’ll tend to overmix which makes the cake tough. If you don’t have a sifter, simply place a regular fine sieve over a mixing bowl. Then add the dry ingredients into the sieve and sift the mixture into the bowl. Finally, give it a good whisk making sure that all of the ingredients are well combined.
Melt the chocolate or just add chocolate chips
To make the zucchini bread more fudgy like brownies you can melt the chocolate over a water bath before adding it into the batter. But if you love melty pockets of chocolate in fluffy cake slices, I recommend to just fold in chopped chocolate. That is totally up to you! Anyway, if this triple chocolate thing is too much goodness for you, you can easily omit the chocolate chips on top.
Prepare your baking pan for easy removal!
Please make sure to prepare the baking pan properly to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan. First, lightly grease your loaf pan with vegan butter. Secondly, line it with additional parchment paper, leaving some paper overhanging. The overhanging paper is super helpful when you want to remove the cake after baking. Simply grab it and lift out the entire cake easily!
How to get the ultimate chocolate flavor
For the ultimate double chocolate flavor, I recommend using both natural unsweetened cocoa powder and vegan chocolate inside the batter. Please make sure to use NO dutch cocoa for the best results. And oh, if you want a triple chocolate zucchini cake loaf, do not forget the vegan chocolate chips on top, haha! Also, I recommend adding a bit of instant coffee or espresso powder.
Why coffee in chocolate cake?
Adding a bit of espresso or coffee powder is actually the key to the perfect chocolate cake because it makes the chocolate flavor more intense. However, this addition is just optional but I definitely recommend that since you won’t taste the coffee in the chocolate zucchini cake. Rather, the espresso or coffee powder just brings the chocolate flavor to the next level!
This vegan chocolate zucchini bread is
- Vegan (Egg-free & Dairy-free)
- Soft, Moist
- Loaded with veggies
- Rich in chocolate flavor
- Easy & quick to make
- Requires just a few ingredients
- Tastes like healthier chocolate cake
- So delicious!
- The perfect breakfast, dessert or snack
Want to make a sheet cake, muffins or cupcakes?
Since this chocolate zucchini bread recipe is super versatile you can easily make it into a sheet cake or muffins and cupcakes. The baking time may vary, depending on the baking pan you use but you can find any information in my recipe notes. Anyway, I highly recommend doing a cake test – always! – no matter what cake you bake because all ovens often vary in power and temperature.
How to serve chocolate zucchini bread
I kept my chocolate zucchini cake loaf simple and just topped it with vegan chocolate chips. That way, I find it’s easier to store and take away to work, school, university or to wherever you want to go! Also, I love when I can serve it with different toppings, such as vegan caramel sauce or melted peanut butter and banana or vegan ice cream. Anyway, if you want to make a smooth, and creamy chocolate frosting or just a simple chocolate ganache instead, feel free to do that!
For more vegan chocolate cake recipes be sure to check out my
- Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Best Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Vegan Snickers Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Banana Pancakes
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Banana Pancakes
- Best Vegan Brownies
If you do try this Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake Loaf Recipe, please leave me a comment below sharing how it turned out for you! And if you take a picture of your chocolate treat and share it on Instagram, please do not forget to tag me @biancazapatka #biancazapatka because I love seeing your recreations!
Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread
You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my new Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 160, or sub gluten-free flour*
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder 50g
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk 60ml
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp neutral oil 100ml, such as grapeseed or canola, or sub melted coconut oil or vegan butter*
- 3/4 cup organic cane sugar* 150g, or to taste
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder or 1/4 tsp espresso powder*, optional
- 1 ripe mashed banana or sub 1/2 cup apple sauce or 2 flax-eggs *see recipe notes
- 8,8 oz shredded zucchini makes about 1 heaped cup after squeezing
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips 150g, or chopped chocolate
Topping (optional)
- more vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper so that there is an overhang on both sides (*as shown in the pics above).
- Sift the flour, cornstarch, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- To a measuring jar add the non-dairy milk, oil, sugar, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, coffee powder and mashed banana (or another egg substitute *see recipe notes). Mix to combine.
- Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Then fold in shredded zucchini (make sure it is slightly squeezed) and chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate or melted chocolate *see text above). The batter should be thick but still pourable as shown in the step-by-step pics. If it’s too thick add a tiny bit more non-dairy milk.
- Fill the batter into your prepared pan. Optionally, top with more chocolate chips. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean with some melted chocolate chips attached.
- Let cool in the pan completely. Then using the parchment paper to lift out the loaf carefully.
- Slice and enjoy with caramel sauce if you like!
Video
Notes
- Instead of banana, you can sub 1/2 cup apple sauce or 2 flax-eggs. To make the flax-eggs, mix 2 tbsp ground flaxseeds + 6 tbsp warm water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to thicken. (If you’re not vegan, you can sub 2 regular eggs).
- I recommend using all-purpose flour or a blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. To make this chocolate zucchini bread gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour blend 1:1. (If using another flour, such as oat flour or whole grain flour, keep in mind that your chocolate zucchini bread won’t get as soft as when using a lighter flour. Also, please make sure to adjust the liquid by adding more non-dairy milk, if needed, because different flours absorb different amounts of liquid).
- You can use any sweeteners you like, such as maple syrup, agave syrup, coconut sugar or other.
- You can’t taste the coffee but it makes the chocolate flavor more intense.
- The bread freezes well for up to 3 months. Just make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag to avoid freezer burn. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
- You can turn this recipe into muffins and bake for about 25-30 minutes or cupcakes and bake for about 20 minutes. If you want to make a sheet cake in a brownie pan the baking time will be about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean with some melted chocolate attached.
- Please make sure to do a cake test since all ovens vary in power and temperature.
- You can find more helpful information about this recipe in my blogpost above.
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Such an easy recipe to follow. I didn’t have zucchini so used bottle gourd instead & it still turned out so well. Thanks Bianca 🙂
Moist, rich, chocolatey goodness. It was a hit with everyone and was super easy to make. Loved it so much i’m making another one today. Will try it in muffin tins to make individual little cakes. I put two whole zucchinis and you never be able to tell 🙂
So glad you love this recipe! 🙂 Hope your muffins will turn out as delicious!
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! ❤️
Yum yum yum! This recipe is amazing. I’ve tried many of Bianca’s recipes and they never fail.
The loaf is moist and fudgey, we made a rich chocolate icing to go with it. We only used 1/2 cup brown sugar, and used 1/4 cup apple sauce and 1 flax egg (it’s all we had in the pantry). It was sweet enough for us, definitely be making this again. Will try little muffins next time 🙂
Ooops! I forgot to press the stars. No doubt it is 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Thank you so much! 🙂
So glad you love this recipe, Jodie! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! 🙂
Hope your muffins will be as delicious! 😛
It is so delicious! My only complaint is you said 50-60 minutes, mine was ready in 25-30 minutes! I used the same type of pan you used. Otherwise, this is so delicious, we finished half a cake within 10 minutes of it coming out of the oven. My batter was drier so I added extra oatmilk to make it wetter to your consistency. I will definitely remake this.
Wow, your oven must be very powerful! 😀 But so glad you love this recipe! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! 🙂
È stata una bella scoperta Bianca, ho testato personalmente questa ricetta, buonissima. Grazie Bianca per averla condivisa con tutti noi 🥰
Thank you! 🙂
I baked this delight yesterday and it was fantastic. Words cannot describe the taste, the texture… Just amazing, and I’m so happy I succeeded because I’m not very skilled in baking yet. I realized last moment that I ran out of zucchini so I added very ripe papaya instead. It was heavenly! Thank you Bianca for this recipe, the tips and everything. ❤️🙏
So glad you love this recipe! Thanks for your amazing feedback and for the tip using papaya instead of zucchini! I totally love that idea! Thank you! 🙂
Tried and tested… made the muffin version.. and it was one of the yummiesttttt i have ever had!!!
So glad you used this chocolate zucchini bread recipe to make muffins! Thank you! 🙂 Lots of love, Bianca <3
Would it be possible to add some espresso instead of the powder? I’m afraid it would be too liquid. The cake looks amazing and I would love to make it! Thanks
If using espresso, you can add a little less non-dairy milk! Hope you’ll like it 🙂 Thank you!
Excellent recipe! I made a few changes to some ingredients such as using arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch and erythritol instead of cane sugar, but the end result was still fantastic! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Hi Sabrina, thank you so much for your feedback! So glad that you enjoyed this chocolate zucchini cake even in the sugar-free version! 🙂 Lots of love, Bianca <3
This cake is AMAZING! Rich and dense, easy to make, and the fact it’s cruelty free and has sneaky fresh veggies in there? Mind blown! I used sugar free dark chocolate and Queens sugar free maple syrup as sweetener to make it a little less naughty, and it was supurb. Served with some plant based ice cream, the whole cake lasted about 8 minutes in my house full of sceptical non-vegans 😂 10/10 will be making this again!
Hi Kathryn, wow only 8 minutes?! That’s a super quick time! 😀 So glad that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your feedback! Lots of love, Bianca <3
I did your zuccini chocolate bread and it turned out amazing!!!
Thank you for sharing it 😍
So glad that you enjoyed it! Thank you! 🙂
I tried this recipe today and it turned out wonderful. I was already used to using zucchini inside my carrot cakes but never thought of adding it to a chocolate one! I am not vegan but was testing it for a vegan friend who has limited sources, so I tried to stick to the recipe but used half-skim dairy milk instead and had to add a little more to loosen the batter as mine turned a little dense but in the end after 50 minutes it turned out amazing for a recipe with no eggs in it. The inside is very much regular cake like and soft. Enjoyed it very much.
I totally love baking chocolate cake with zucchini because it makes the cake wonderfully moist! So happy to hear you enjoyed the chocolate zucchini bread too! 🙂 Thank you so much for your feedback!
So glad I found your blog! Your recipes all look amazing and your photos are stunning! Will definitely be trying out this zucchini bread!
Welcome! So happy you found my blog! Have fun trying the zucchini chocolate bread! Can’t wait to read your feedback! 🙂
This cake is the best vegan chocolate cake in the world :)! The recipe is perfect, easy to make and so delicious. Thumbs up and five stars :)!
Thank you so much! So happy about that 🙂
This is absolutely divineeee, so easy to make and so rich!
So happy that you liked it 🙂 Thank you <3
Yummo! I used chicken eggs and half the recommended sugar and it turned out great. Rich chocolately goodness. I do feel a caramel sauce or vanilla ice cream is required just to bring in some missing sweetness (that’s totally on me) 👌🏼
I totally love adding ice cream or caramel sauce or any sweet spread on top of my zucchini chocolate bread slices so I didn’t add too much sugar into the batter. So glad that you liked the recipe too 🙂 Thank you! <3
Absolutely loved the recipe. Never thought a boring veggie like zucchini can be used in this amazing dessert style bread. Easy to follow recipe and absolutely no complicated ingredients.
I totally love baking with veggies and especially zucchini adds so much moisture, plus it’s healthy, haha! So glad that you liked the zucchini loaf too 🙂 Thank you!
It’s a lovely combination. Now healthy don’t have to take cakes out of the picture. This is so yum! 👌♥️♥️
Thank you so much 😀
I really loved this recipe since I like healthy baking too! And it’s as delicious as it looks! Well done and thanks for sharing nice and healthy recipes! ❤️
Thank you so much! I’m always happy when people try my recipe and love it too! 🙂
The best and easiest vegan cake i ever Made. Took me 10 min max. So moist, soft and full of glamour. This is my new favorite.
So glad that you liked this recipe! Thank you so much! <3
Amazing as always. I had all the ingredients on hand and baked it right after work. Didn’t take long at all to prep. This is my first zucchini bread. I love it. I will make this more often. Thank you again for another amazing vegan friendly amazing recipe. You give me joy in cooking/baking.
So happy to read that you liked this vegan chocolate zucchini loaf too! Thank you so much for your feedback! Hope you’ll also like my other recipes 🙂 <3
Aaaahhh, I can not believe how delicious is this zucchini bread 🤤 thank you Bianca for sharing, I just love your recipes ❤️
So glad that you liked my vegan chocolate zucchini bread and also my other recipes! Thank you so much! <3
This is perfect Bianca! So chocolately 🙂
Thank you, Jess! It’s one of my favorite dessert recipes next to vegan chocolate banana bread and carrot cake 😀
Sssssoooooo delicious😞🤤🤤
Thank you 🙂
This chocolate zucchini bread looks so moist and delicious. I am sure the recipe also makes delicious muffins or a bundt cake. Baking with veggies and fruits is so much fun and healthy too! 🙂
Yes, it’s such a versatile recipe 🙂 and I love baking with fruits and vegetables too! Thank you for your comment <3