Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Bread

One of the best sneaky dessert pairings with zucchini is chocolate (yes, what a strange sentence). When done correctly, you can fold zucchini into any chocolate-based dessert, and no one will know (hello, zucchini brownies and zucchini chocolate cake).

My healthy chocolate zucchini bread has become a weekly staple in my house- it’s wholesome, simple to make, and tastes every bit as indulgent as traditional quick bread.  

Loosely adapted from my healthy zucchini bread, I tested this chocolate version dozens of times in my own kitchen (sharing slices with my family and some very picky friends!) to ensure it delivers the perfect balance of flavor and texture while still packing in plenty of zucchini. 

The secret to a moist, fluffy loaf is using overripe bananas for natural sweetness, the right amount of cocoa powder for depth, and squeezing just enough moisture from the zucchini so that it blends seamlessly into the batter. The result? A rich, chocolatey bread that’s sneakily nutritious and comes in at around 100 calories per slice. 

Key Ingredients

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

• Oats. Quick-cooking oats that are broken down to a powder-like consistency. You can use rolled oats, but you’ll need to blend them very well to ensure none of them remain whole (I tested both, and quick oats always gave the fluffiest texture).
• Cocoa powder. Unsweetened cocoa powder. For a deeper chocolate flavor, I prefer using Dutch-processed or dark cocoa (like Hershey’s Special Dark).
• Baking soda. Gives the bread some rise and fluffiness. 
• Bananas. Mashed and overripe bananas. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the bread will be. Look for bananas with plenty of brown spots as they’ll add extra moisture, too. 
• Maple syrup. Gives sweetness to the bread. You can also use honey or agave nectar. 
• Eggs. Room temperature eggs. 
• Vanilla extract. Gives a subtle vanilla flavor. 
• Zucchini. Finely shred the zucchini and squeeze out the excess moisture before adding it to the batter. I prefer using a box grater for consistent shreds that disappear into the bread. In my testing, leaving too much liquid in the zucchini made the loaf gummy in the center, so don’t skip this step: press the shreds gently with a paper towel or clean kitchen cloth until just damp. 
• Milk. I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk works. I’ve tested it with dairy milk too, and both gave the same results. 
• Chocolate chips. Optional, but gives delicious pools of chocolate throughout. 

How to make healthy chocolate zucchini bread

Step 1- Assemble. Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor.

Step 2- Blend until very smooth. Fold through the chocolate chips.

Step 3- Pour the batter into a greased and lined loaf pan. 

Step 4- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean. Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool completely before removing it from the pan and slicing it.