Description
This moist, fudgy chocolate zucchini bread is topped with a crackly brown sugar streusel. It’s the perfect way to use up garden zucchini, and it tastes like dessert but is wholesome enough for breakfast.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (42g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (about 1 medium zucchini) shredded zucchini, not squeezed
- ½ cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
- ½ cup (60g) all-purpose flour (for streusel)
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar (for streusel)
- ¼ cup (56g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes (for streusel)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (for streusel)
- Pinch of salt (for streusel)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Position the rack in the center of the oven. Line your 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the long sides.
- Shred the zucchini. Wash it, trim off the ends, and shred it using the large holes of a box grater. Do not peel it first. You should end up with about 2 cups of shredded zucchini. Set it aside without squeezing it.
- Make the streusel topping first. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse sand with some pea-sized butter pieces remaining. Pop it in the fridge while you make the batter.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Make sure there are no lumps in the cocoa powder.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and granulated sugar together until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Stream in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract, whisking continuously until everything is well combined.
- Combine wet and dry. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula until just combined. A few streaks of flour are okay.
- Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Add the shredded zucchini (including any liquid that’s accumulated) and the chocolate chips. Fold gently until evenly distributed. The batter will be thick and slightly shaggy.
- Transfer to the prepared pan. Scrape the batter into the lined loaf pan and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle the cold streusel topping evenly over the top, pressing it down gently so it sticks to the batter.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs (not wet batter). If the streusel is browning too quickly after 40 minutes, tent the pan loosely with foil.
- Cool completely before slicing. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then use the parchment sling to lift it out onto a wire rack. Let it cool completely — at least 1 hour — before slicing.
Notes
Do not squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini; it keeps the bread tender. Keep the streusel cold until ready to bake. Let the bread cool completely before slicing to prevent crumbling. For gluten-free, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. For dairy-free, use plant-based butter in the streusel and dairy-free chocolate chips.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55-65 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/10 of loa
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 26
- Fat: 16
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Carbohydrates: 42
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 5
Keywords: chocolate zucchini bread, brown sugar streusel, zucchini bread, quick bread, chocolate bread, garden zucchini recipe