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This zucchini chocolate cake is super moist, fudgy, and has a tender crumb. Packed with rich chocolate flavor, it uses wholesome and simple ingredients.
Want more zucchini dessert recipes? Try my healthy zucchini muffins, healthy zucchini bread, and zucchini brownies next.
It’s no secret I love to add zucchini to my desserts, but none are as impressive as my chocolate zucchini cake recipe. It looks like any good cake out there, but packs in some sneaky ingredients that make it almost healthy enough for breakfast!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Hidden nutrients! Adding zucchini to a chocolate cake is a sneaky way to hide some greens, and it adds extra moisture to the cake (and fiber, too!).
- No zucchini taste. Seriously, and you won’t be able to see it, either!
- Perfect texture. The texture is super moist, with a tender crumb.
- No eggs, butter, or oil. This uses pantry staples, so you have no excuses not to make it.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“Great! All of my 9 guests (3 needed gluten-free) gave this rave review. Thank you!” – Ali
Ingredients needed
- Milk and vinegar. Mixed and set for 5 minutes to create a mock buttermilk. I used unsweetened almond milk but any milk works.
- Oat flour. A wheat-free alternative to traditional white or wheat flour. Skip the store-bought and packaged options and make my homemade oat flour.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder. Dutch process cocoa powder. For a richer flavor, you can use dark cocoa powder.
- Arrowroot powder. Holds the cake together and helps achieve a moist crumb.
- Baking powder and soda. Both leavening agents are used to give the cake structure and stability.
- Unsweetened applesauce. Helps keep the cake moist while adding minimal calories and fat.
- Coconut sugar OR light brown sugar. Either sugar works. Avoid using white sugar or unrefined sugar as it can affect how moist the cake ends up being.
- Shredded zucchini. With most of the moisture removed.
- Salt. A pinch of salt to balance out the sweet ingredients.
- Vanilla extract. A must for any good cake recipe.
- Chocolate frosting. Not optional! I used my famous 2 ingredient dairy free frosting but any frosting works, including a cream cheese frosting.
How to make a zucchini chocolate cake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Line and grease two 8-inch cake pans and mix the milk and vinegar to curdle.
Step 2- Make the cake batter. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, applesauce, and sugar. Combine the two until just combined.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter amongst the two cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.
Step 4- Frost. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting, slicing, and serving.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Do not over-bake the cake, as it will continue to bake as it is cooling down. Unlike a traditional chocolate cake, you’ll need to be super careful, as oat flour can dry out goods easily.
- Squeeze out some of the moisture from the zucchini, but not all of it. Some of the moisture helps keep the cake moist and soft. I like to let them sit on some paper towel.
- Brown sugar or coconut sugar is necessary to balance out the other ingredients. If you want to use a sugar-free substitute, you’ll need to add fat to it.
- Intensify the chocolate flavor by adding some chocolate chips throughout.
Variations
- For a richer cake, swap out half the applesauce with olive oil, butter, or vegetable oil.
- Swap out the oat flour for either all-purpose flour or wholewheat flour.
- For a low carb cake, replace the oat flour with blanched almond flour, use allulose as the sweetener, and swap out the applesauce for full-fat yogurt.
- Swap out the applesauce for either plain yogurt or sour cream.
- To cut out the gluten, use gluten-free oat flour.
- Make a bundt cake by baking the batter in a bundt pan.
Storage instructions
- To store: Store at room temperature, covered, for up to three days. If you’d like the cake to keep longer, Place slices of the cake in a sealable container and store it in the fridge.
- To freeze: Place the baked, cooled, and frosted cake in an airtight container and store it in the freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions
This cake has no eggs or dairy in it, so is suitable for those following a vegan diet.
There is no need to peel the zucchini before grating or shredding it.
More chocolate cake recipes to try
- Keto chocolate cake
- Almond flour chocolate cake
- Flourless chocolate cake
- Death by chocolate cake
- Healthy chocolate cake
Zucchini Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups milk any milk works
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 cups oat flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup zucchini shredded
- 1 cup chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans and set aside.
- Add the milk and vinegar in a bowl and whisk together. Let it sit to curdle.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the oat flour, cocoa powder, arrowroot powder, baking powder, and baking soda and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk mix, brown sugar, and applesauce. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until combined. Fold through the zucchini.
- Distribute the batter amongst the two cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer come out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool completely. Once cool, frost them, layer them then slice and serve.
Can a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or agave be used instead of granulated sugar?
I haven’t tried but feel free to experiment and see!
Can you make these into cup cakes?
I don’t see why not- I haven’t tried but you’d need to reduce the cooking time.
Thanks for the help!
I have a question about the amount of zucchini. The recipe says 1/4 c. (About one medium zucchini). Those two amounts seem very different and 1/4 c. does not seem adequate. Can you please clarify? I’m very interested in making the recipe.
Not really, 1 medium zucchini was 1/4 cup for me. 🙂
Made it! Loved it! Making it again 🙂
😀 Fantastic!
The vegan option contains dairy- which makes it not vegan…
No it doesn’t contain dairy. Every recipe that calls for milk refers to any milk, like almond or soy etc. If you use cows milk then yes, yours will no longer be vegan.
I’m about to make this and I’m looking forward to eating it….however, unless vegan means another thing where you live this is NOT vegan (which I’m QUITE happy about!) because it contains three eggs.
Hi Barbara, there is a clearly written out vegan option in the post.
How much zucchini for the vegan version? I grated half of a large zucchini (since the keto recipe called for one medium) and it was well over a cup! In the oven now, but second guessing myself!
The more zucchini, the better- it will yield a more moist cake.
Is there a way for me to give this recipe 5 stars, 8 four leaf clovers, 10 moons and a sun? I just made it and it was fantastic. I made a potentially fatal error when I poured the batter into the pan without first greasing the pan. I realized before I put it in the oven. To recover I scooped the batter out of the pan and into a greased cupcake pan. So my first attempt became zucchini chocolate cupcakes. My husband is sold.
Could I use almond flour instead or coconut flour? I was given zucchini and would love to try this recipe! Thanks!
Could I replace the coconut flour with spelt flower? What other flour could I replace it with?
I haven’t tried, so feel free to experiment and see
Hi there, how many servings are in this recipe? Will surely try it just wanna make sure to count my calories and macros right… ^^
12 slices!
Are both versions gluten free or only the vegan recipe
All recipes are gluten free 🙂
Has anyone tried the Keto version with Almond Flour instead of coconut flour? I have a ton of that and would love to use it up!
Don’t think that will work, feel free to experiment and see!
I used the keto receipe and ended up doubling it because it didn’t seem like enough. I still baked it in the 8” by 8” pan for 30 min at 350 F, the middle wasn’t quite done so I reduced the temperature to 325 F and baked an additional 10 min. It came out perfectly! I did this twice so that I had two layers, also doubled the frosting and there was just enough for the middle layer and top layer. Made this for a birthday and it was a hit even among keto haters! Just wanted to share my experience for those that wanted to make a bigger cake with this recipe!
That sounds absolutely fabulous- YUM!!!!!
I’m so excited to make this for a birthday cake tomorrow. I know you say any milk will work. What about oat milk? I only have 1 shot at this.
Yes any milk works.