Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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5 from 35 votes

Let’s Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread! This ultra chocolatey gluten-free zucchini bread is AMAZING. The perfect way to use up extra zucchini in the summer! (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

A front view of a sliced loaf of gluten free chocolate zucchini bread

It’s that time of summer where All The Zucchini are ready to be used, and we’re looking for ways to use this green summer vegetable!

I’m happy to tuck shredded zucchini into chicken meatballs or roast them with some tomatoes, but my favorite way to eat zucchini is probably always going to be paired with chocolate. Because yum.

Last year, it was a CRAZY delicious Almond Flour Chocolate Zucchini Cake. This year, it’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

This ultra-chocolatey chocolate zucchini bread is made with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend so it’s easy to pull together (no need to mix and match flours!), and the end result is fudgy, tender, and perfectly studded with chocolate chips.

Here’s what you need to get started on our easy gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread recipe…

Gather Your Ingredients

Here’s what goes into our gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread:

ingredients for gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread
  • GRATED ZUCCHINI. Grated zucchini makes our gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread nice and moist. I know that’s the grossest word ever, but it’s true! (See the FAQ for a tip for grating zucchini!)
  • EGGS + AVOCADO OIL. Eggs + avocado oil give this chocolate zucchini bread plenty of body and prevent it from getting dry.
  • COCONUT SUGAR + VANILLA. To round out the wet ingredients, you’ll add coconut sugar and vanilla. You can totally use white or light brown sugar if you prefer in your chocolate zucchini bread.
  • DARK COCOA POWDER. To give this gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread that ultra chocolatey look and taste, I use dark unsweetened cocoa powder, sometimes labeled Dutch-processed cocoa or alkalized cocoa powder. Dark cocoa powder tends to be less expensive and easier to find. Dutch processed cocoa is nice if you can find it!
  • GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR. I use a simple 1:1 gluten-free flour to keep things simple. I prefer King Arthur Flour Measure-for-Measure gluten-free flour blend. It’s got a nice mix of flours, no strange taste or smell, and no grittiness. If you use other blends, you may have slightly different results.
  • BAKING SODA + SALT. To finish up the dry ingredients, I add baking soda and salt. This will help the chocolate zucchini bread rise and balance the flavors nicely.
  • CHOCOLATE CHIPS. Aaaaand I love adding plenty of chocolate chips for even more chocolate flavor. A few on the top and plenty inside mean that you’ll get a little chocolate in every bite. Which is exactly how I like my chocolate zucchini bread.

How to Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Step By Step

As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below!

making gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread step by step
  1. Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan (mine is a 9″x5″ loaf pan) and line with parchment paper.
  2. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine well.
  3. Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Stir or whisk to combine well.
  4. Add Dry Ingredients to the Wet Ingredients and stir until almost fully combined, with just a few white floury patches left.
  5. Fold In Zucchini & Chocolate Chips. Add grated zucchini and chocolate chips to the batter and fold in until evenly blended.
  6. Bake Zucchini Bread. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs. (A little melted chocolate chip is ok, but you don’t want any wet batter.)
  7. Cool. Place pan on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the bread and transfer the bread out of the pan and onto a wire rack to finish cooling before slicing. (If you’ve used parchment, you can usually just lift the bread out of the pan using the parchment as “handles.”)
  8. Store leftover chocolate zucchini bread in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days, or freeze up to 2 months in a freezer bag. 
Close up view of a slice of gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread on a white plate

FAQ + Tips For The Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread

A TRICK FOR GRATING ZUCCHINI. If you’ve got a food processor, grating zucchini takes less than 30 seconds. Just use the grating attachment, cut your zucchini in half, and get to work! Otherwise, I love this style of grater, which gathers everything up for you nice and tidily.

WHAT’S THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR FOR ZUCCHINI BREAD? I recommend using a 1:1 or measure-for-measure gluten-free flour blend for our chocolate zucchini bread. We highly recommend King Arthur Flour’s Measure-for-Measure flour. Our second choice is Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.

CAN I MAKE THIS WITH REGULAR COCOA POWDER? Yes, though it won’t look or taste *quite* as chocolatey. You can find dark cocoa powder at lots of regular grocery stores, or you can order Dutch-processed cocoa here.

HAVE YOU TRIED THIS WITHOUT EGGS? I haven’t yet. I’d probably start with flax eggs or powdered egg replacer if I were going to try a substitute.

HOW DO YOU STORE LEFTOVER CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD? With most gluten-free baked goods, I prefer to put them in the refrigerator or freezer. This will keep in the fridge 2-3 days and in the freezer for about a month. (I like freezing it cut in slices so I can pull one out at a time.)

a loaf of gluten-free chocolate zucchini bread cut into slices

More Gluten-Free Zucchini Recipes To Try

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!

A front view of a sliced loaf of gluten free chocolate zucchini bread

Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread

4.95 from 35 votes
Emily Dixon, One Lovely Life
This ultra-chocolatey Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread is bread is the perfect way to use up extra zucchini in the summer!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Print Pin Rate
Servings: 1 loaf chocolate zucchini bread (about 12 slices)
Calories: 282kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups packed grated zucchini (don't peel)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil or another neutral/melted oil*
  • 3/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder sometimes labeled alkalized or Dutch-processed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup gluten-free measure-for-measure or 1:1 gluten-free flour** (120 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (2-3 Tbsp. set aside)

Instructions

  • Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan (mine is a 9″x5″ loaf pan) and line with parchment paper.
  • Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine well.
  • Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Stir or whisk to combine well.
  • Add Dry Ingredients to the Wet Ingredients and stir until almost fully combined, with just a few white floury patches left.
  • Fold In Zucchini & Chocolate Chips. Add grated zucchini and chocolate chips to the batter and fold in until evenly blended.
  • Bake Zucchini Bread. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs. (A little melted chocolate chip is ok, but you don’t want any wet batter.)
  • Cool. Place pan on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the bread and transfer the bread out of the pan and onto a wire rack to finish cooling before slicing. (If you’ve used parchment, you can usually just lift the bread out of the pan using the parchment as “handles.”)
  • Store leftover chocolate zucchini bread in an airtight container at room temperature 2-3 days, or freeze up to 2 months in a freezer bag. 

Notes

  • Oil. You can use canola oil, melted & cooled coconut oil, melted vegan butter, or melted butter.
  • Gluten-Free Flour. We recommend King Arthur Flour Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour for this recipe. Our runner up is Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour. If you use another brand, be sure it contains xanthan gum, or the zucchini bread will not turn out properly. Do not substitute almond flour or coconut flour here as they will not work in this recipe. 
  • Zucchini. There’s no need to squeeze extra liquid out of the zucchini for this recipe. You can just wash it, trim off the ends and grate it! 

Video

Course: Cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bread, chocolate zucchini bread, gluten free chocolate zucchini bread, gluten-free zucchini bread

Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice (1/12 recipe) | Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.1g | Protein: 3.5g | Fat: 17.1g | Saturated Fat: 4.1g | Cholesterol: 46.5mg | Sodium: 234mg | Fiber: 2.2g | Sugar: 17.3g

Nutrition facts are an estimate only and will vary based on brands and amounts used.

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Recipe Rating




79 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    So delicious and decadent. My non-glutenfree adult son loved it and asked for more!! I used butter and mixed the cocoa with the dry ingredients; used a blend of brown/white sugar

  2. 5 stars
    SO Delicious! I used half Bob’s Red Mill and half Sorghum flour. Turned out great! This one’s a keeper, thanks for the recipe!

    1. 5 stars
      This is a go-to recipe for our family – we have made it and loved it for several years. We grow a lot of zucchinis so turning them into healthy choc muffins/bread is perfect. I use the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour, because it has higher protein than most gluten free flour blends (got growing boys to feed). Thank you for the recipe 🙂

  3. Hi,

    going to try this as muffins, with 1/2 c maple syrup.
    Any suggestions for muffins sticking to liners and tray, even using oil/butter in both cases?

    1. Hi Jo-Anne! Sticking will actually probably get worse with maple syrup, so I don’t recommend it here. My favorite trick for preventing sticking is Paper Chef brand parchment liners and a metal muffin pan. They work insanely well!

        1. Hey Jo-Anne! Coconut sugar is a natural sweetener and is not considered refined sugar. Coconut sugar is made from the sap of coconut palm trees and only minimally processed (the liquid is simply evaporated from the sap so crystals form), so it retains much of its inulin preobiotic fiber and natural minerals, like potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. (The same way maple syrup does.) Coconut sugar has a higher nutrition value and lower glycemic index than refined sugars (white sugar/brown sugar).

          I don’t recommend liquid sweetener in this recipe.

  4. 5 stars
    Absolutely delicious! I used melted vegan butter and brown sugar as suggested substitutes. This recipe will be on repeat!

  5. 5 stars
    I made this recipe with two pans 7×4, baked for 40 minutes! Can’t find the best way to say how AMAZING this was. It was so moist, mildly rich, and light. Almost cake like! Will make it again and again!

  6. 5 stars
    Totally yummy GF recipe. I used Robin Hood GF flour, melted cool coconut oil, and monk fruit / stevia as my sweetener. Turned out perfectly. Absolutely delicious.

  7. 5 stars
    Made this today! It is amazing. I used butter as the oil and King Arthur 1 for 1 GF flour. Served it with ice cream. AMAZING.

  8. 5 stars
    Followed the recipe and it turned out great. Even my wife was impressed, and she’s fussy. Used Carob powder instead of chocolate and really couldn’t tell the difference. Now I’m going to try your other recipes. 😉😊