Oh, you were looking for a chocolate zucchini bread recipe? Don’t you realize this is a food blog? I’m bound by contract to weave a long, unnecessarily tangential tale in each introduction, keeping you from the recipe for as long as I can for somewhat mischievous, possibly sorcerous reasons, and I really don’t want to let you down. Next week, I will be celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary with a man I met after I wrote some lengthy posts on a blog about, well, dating and New York City and amusing experiences I had. He read it, we went for drinks, I stopped dating, sought a new topic to occupy my time, and Smitten Kitchen was born a year later. [Some people have honeymoon babies; I, uh, had you.]
“You must be kidding!” I imagine you replying, “You’re too young to have been married for 20 years!” And I couldn’t agree more! I’m fairly certain we just met. I believe not much has changed (well, except for those two amazing kids and a few gray hairs on him that I take personal credit for and pride in). We still enjoy having friends over, still love dining out, still adore Paris and New York, and — here’s the crux! — he’s still trying to persuade me to incorporate chocolate into more recipes. In 2014, he successfully convinced me to add chocolate to my banana bread, and judging by the 899 comments, it seems like you’re thankful he did. Now, he insists it’s time for the ultimate zucchini bread, so overdue that AI thinks it’s already been made.
This is an incredibly fudgy chocolate loaf cake with a crunchy top that contains nearly a pound of zucchini, and although I’d never suggest hiding zucchini away — we celebrate zucchini on Smitten Kitchen, thank you very much — the truth is, if your eyes were closed, and maybe even if they weren’t, you’d never guess there’s a vegetable in it. Is this the best news ever? A travesty? Should zucchini bread resemble a brownie? I’ll let you decide that, along with all the friends you’re bound to make when you take this to your gatherings this weekend. Cheers! And thank you for being part of our journey.
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread: This is a hefty 2.5-pound zucchini bread, about 1.5 times larger than most standard recipes, so please don’t be shocked by the amount of oil or sugar — everything is balanced, and the result is moderately sweet. If you have a scale, this is a one-bowl recipe. Any cocoa powder will work, but I prefer Dutch-processed, or generally the kind you'd find from any European brand. Just a note: the baking time is lengthy. In my last three tests, it took me 1 hour and 25 minutes, but oven times vary. You can slice it as soon as it’s out, but I personally think it tastes better on day two, when the moisture settles and the top is extra crunchy.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups (13 ounces or 370 grams) grated, packed zucchini, not squeezed, grated using the large holes of a box grater
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) of a neutral oil, olive oil, or melted unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (95 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond brand; use half the amount for other brands)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/3 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (55 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/3 cup (8 ounces or 170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) raw or turbinado sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 6-cup or 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. For easier release, line the bottom and two long sides with a strip of parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the grated zucchini with the oil, eggs, sugars, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until well-mixed. If you’re using cinnamon, sprinkle it along with the baking soda and baking powder over the batter's surface and mix until combined—then, for additional assurance that the ingredients are well mixed, stir an extra 10 times. If your cocoa powder has lumps (as mine usually does), sift it over the batter. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Reserve 2
This is an incredibly fudgy chocolate loaf cake featuring a crispy top, containing nearly a pound of zucchini. However, if your eyes were shut, you would never suspect there was a vegetable included...