As you may know, my gardening year was less than successful.
In fact, I did so poorly that I actually killed my zucchini plants. (Betcha didn’t know that it was possible, huh?)
I was thrilled when my neighbor Jana offered to give me a baseball-bat zucchini. And since this is the first one I’ve had access to all year, it was kind of a treat, believe it or not!
A lot of zucchini bread recipes are more like cake… They usually call for cup after cup of white sugar, which is something I really try to avoid.
So, after some serious modifications, may I present to you:
{Healthier} Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- 3 cups flour (use whatever combo you like. I used 1 cup hard white, 1 cup spelt, and 1 cup unbleached)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (or carob powder)
- 1 T. cinnamon
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 t. sea salt
- 3/4 cup sucanat (or other granulated sweetener of your choice)
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup melted coconut oil (or use melted butter)
- 2 t. vanilla
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9×5 loaf pans.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together.
In a separate bowl, combine the sucanat, honey, and eggs (I use my Kitchenaid for this). Then add in the melted oil and vanilla. Mix well.
Dump in the zucchini, and then add in the dry mixture. Mix until everything is moist and incorporated, then pour into the waiting loaf pans.
Bake the zucchini bread for 50-60 minutes, or until they pass the “clean toothpick” test. Cool on wire racks.
Kitchen Notes
1. I get my coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. I used the expeller-pressed stuff for this recipe.
2. I’ve never tried soaking this recipe or using gluten-free flours, so I don’t know how it would turn out with those modifications.
3. Feel free to play around with the sweeteners. I’m betting that maple syrup could easily be substituted for the honey.
4. I used to have a hard time getting quick breads to bake evenly, until I started using stoneware pans. Problem solved! Now, I can hardly bear to use anything else.
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Print{Healthier} Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (I used 1 cup hard white, 1 cup spelt, and 1 cup unbleached)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder(or carob)
- 1 T. cinnamon
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 t. sea salt
- 3/4 cup sucanat (or other granulated sweetener)
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
- 2 t. vanilla
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9×5 loaf pans
- Mix dry ingredients together
- In separate bowl, combine sucanat, honey, and eggs (I use my Kitchenaid for this)
- Add melted oil and vanilla, Mix well
- Add zucchini
- Add the dry mixture
- Mix until everything is moist and incorporated, then pour into loaf pans
- Bake 50-60 minutes, until they pass the “clean toothpick” test
- Cool on wire racks
Jacqueline says
October 4, 2012 at 7:50 amI’m very curious to hear why you don’t soak things anymore.
Cathy says
October 4, 2012 at 10:22 amHey, don’t feel too bad about a crappy gardening year, we all mostly had it down here as well in Colorado. My zucchini just about died as well and just barely pulled through to start producing about 2 weeks ago. (Just in time to get killed off in the next few days due to cold weather- figures!!!!) I can’t wait to try this bread, although I’ll have to substitute the flour for some gluten free stuff (I use Pamela’s baking mix) but otherwise sounds delish!!!
Jill says
October 5, 2012 at 11:50 amOh yeah- let me know how the gluten-free sub works out! I have no experience with that stuff.
Heather says
October 4, 2012 at 5:16 pmThanks for the recipe! I have a pile of zucchinis on my counter (and that’s after I’ve gone through so many!) and I’ve been a bit at a loss of what to do with them since all my recipes call for cups and cups of white sugar and I’ve been really trying to limit my (and my family’s) intake of refined sugar lately. Anyway, I made this bread today and it turned out really well (I used maple syrup and a little bit of honey and it worked fine). What a great snack for my family! My baby was gobbling it up, too! Thanks again!
Jill says
October 5, 2012 at 11:48 amAwesome Heather! Good to know that the maple syrup works as well. Glad it was a hit!!
Edith says
October 5, 2012 at 10:18 amI so appreciate this recipe! Six years ago at 9 yrs old one of my daughters baked a loaf of banana nut bread completely by herself. She went on a few months later to win a blue ribbon at the county fair for her bread (competing with adults). So now my next daughter is 9 yrs old. Last night she baked your recipe all by herself. It turned out wonderfully! She was so excited and encouraged. I would not be surprised if she brought home a ribbon too. This recipe is heathly and tastes fantastic. Even my 11 yr old son, who saw the zucchini and cringed, loves the bread. Thanks again.
Jill says
October 5, 2012 at 11:46 amWahoo Edith! I love comments like yours. 😉 And way to go to your daughter, too. Hope she gets that ribbon!
Rebecca says
October 10, 2012 at 12:08 pmInteresting recipe! Our garden didn’t do so well either… don’t feel bad 😉
I’d love to hear why you aren’t soaking things much anymore??
Alien Mind Girl says
October 16, 2012 at 6:24 amOk… I made this yesterday and it is FANTASTIC. Such a good recipe! Thanks so much. (nom nom)
Jill says
October 16, 2012 at 2:20 pmAwesome! Glad it was a hit! 😉
Andrea says
October 24, 2012 at 8:44 amOh my word this batter is delicious! I made it into muffins instead of loaves, and I’m just waiting on them to finish up in the oven. I’m so excited!
Jill says
October 24, 2012 at 1:42 pmOh, muffins are an excellent idea! Yum!
Cathy says
October 24, 2012 at 7:25 pmOk, just made this tonight, substituting Pamela’s gluten free baking mix for the flour. I also didn’t have any honey left, so I used up the last of some agave syrup I had and topped that off with some molasses. I did both walnuts and the last of some chocolate chips, too. The bread turned out tasty, but not as sweet as I was expecting, which might have been my fault for omitting the honey. Still, very, very good! Even better with some butter slathered on it…but what isn’t made better with butter???!!!
Amanda says
August 19, 2013 at 3:13 pmWe moved all summer, so I didn’t get a garden in at all. I am SOOO THANKFUL for our local Farmer’s Market and new neighbors, who have supplied us with lots of fresh produce. I made this bread for my father in-law who does not eat refined sugar… He loved it. I did have to leave out the chocolate chips as the only chips I had we not sugar free.
Joanne Bjorkquist says
May 12, 2014 at 1:07 pmIs there not any sour milk in you zucchini recipe?
Wendi Vallie says
May 25, 2014 at 5:38 pmThere’s no sour milk? I was just on your “20 ways to use sour raw milk” and it said make zucchini bread, which was linked to this. I have 2 gallons of raw milk that I don’t want to waste. I bought the normal amount we usually do, but didn’t consider that my two kids were going to be at Grandma’s for over a week. Now I am stuck with sour milk. Anyway, you might want to fix that link. BTW, thank you for your blog. Love it. I am new to this whole traditional, real food eating. You’ve helped a lot.
Natalie says
May 1, 2017 at 8:17 amAgreed. I also came over from that link and found no milk in this recipe whatsoever.