What do you do when you keep bringing in zucchini after zucchini from your garden? You may want to make vegan gluten free zucchini chocolate chip muffins, or you may also want to learn how to freeze zucchini so you can make use of it long past zucchini season has ended. But one thing you should definitely do is make this gooey, chocolaty, Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread.
It’s made in the shape of a loaf, but it’s a vegan gluten free chocolate zucchini loaf that tastes like cake. Or even brownies. The first time I made it, the kids thought it was chocolate cake. Next year when zucchini season rolls around again, I’m going to experiment with making zucchini chocolate cake and zucchini brownies since I now have a good base recipe to work from.
If you’re a little nervous because it contains almost two cups of shredded zucchini, don’t be! There is no hint that there’s a vegetable in this decadent, chocolaty treat!
The shredded zucchini in this loaf provides an abundance of moisture which is what makes the texture so wonderful. The texture is a little dense, due to the extra moisture and because of the chocolate chips. The cocoa powder gives it a deep, dark chocolaty flavour that will have you wanting to make it often. Once you try it, I know it won’t be just me making it over and over…and over again!
I mentioned above that I have been making this with my fresh zucchini from the garden, but if it happens to be the middle of winter as you’re reading this and fresh zucchini is hard to find, frozen pre-shredded zucchini can also be used. Frozen zucchini is not something you see in stores, so freeze up a batch on your own when zucchini is at its peak and freeze so you can enjoy zucchini desserts year-round.
Learn how to freeze zucchini and be sure to read my note about using frozen zucchini in the recipe notes.
And finally, just before you put the loaf into the oven, feel free to sprinkle a handful of mini chocolate chips on top, you can never have too much chocolate, right?
If you like this recipe, you’ll probably like these too!
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread
- Vegan Gluten Free Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
- Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
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How to Make Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread
This nut free Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread gets its deep chocolaty flavour from dark chocolate and cocoa powder! No one will ever know it contains a hidden veggie!
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 6 tbsp water
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend (I use Bob's Red Mill, see note below)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups shredded zucchini (approximately 1 large zucchini or 2 small)
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- mini dark chocolate chips to sprinkle on top (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease a 5" x 9" (1.5 quart) loaf pan.
Prepare your flax eggs by whisking together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside to thicken.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
In a small bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, non-dairy milk, vanilla, and flax mixture together.
Add the shredded zucchini and stir until combined.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour into greased loaf pan.
Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips evenly on top, if using.
Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. See note.
- There's no need to squeeze out the excess moisture from the fresh zucchini after shredding, BUT, if you are using pre-frozen shredded zucchini, there will be more moisture than usual after thawing. Once thawed, get rid of any excess moisture that is not contained, and squeeze the zucchini slightly but not so much that all the moisture is squeezed out.
- Baking times will vary slightly depending on your oven and the type of bakeware you use. I use a glass loaf dish when making this recipe and it takes 60 minutes. Start checking around the 50 minute mark and don't over bake.
- It's important to know that different gluten-free flour blends use different ingredients and ratios, so results will always vary if you substitute. I have never used any other brand of flour to make this recipe (other than Bob's Red Mill), so please know that your results may not be the same as mine if ingredients are substituted.
Kate says
Oh my gosh, this looks amazing! I love chocolate and zucchini bread, so this must be delicious.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Thanks so much, Kate! I’m a bit biased, but I do think it’s super delicious 🙂
Kel says
I followed this to the T and it didn’t work 😩😩😩 I wonder what I did wrong!
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Kel! I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you. In order to help you troubleshoot, I’ll need more details. What didn’t work? Texture? Taste? The first question I always ask is did you make any ingredient substitutions? And another important question: what kind of flour did you use? The flour is usually the ingredient that causes the most problems since gluten-free baking can be a bit tricky sometimes. In this recipe, the only type of flour I’ve used is the gf blend I link to above. If you try again, I highly recommend using that flour blend, or another that is similar for best results. And you cannot use coconut flour in this recipe at all, it will not work. If you can provide some more details about how the recipe turned out, I’ll be able to give you some more help 🙂
Jen says
I have baked this several times and love it! I’ve tried the minimalist baker one but this is much better. Did you manage to make a cake recipe from this? To be honest to me it’s like a cake.
Thanks!
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Jen! Thanks so much, this is such a lovely compliment 🙂 I haven’t made it as a cake yet, but yes, I agree, it’s very cake-like. I’m going to make it in a cake pan next time 🙂 I’m very happy that you like the recipe!