Chocolate chip zucchini bread is the best recipe to use up zucchini! This tender zucchini quick bread is sweetened with honey and studded with chocolate chips. It will help you use 1 cup of shredded zucchini.
If you are anything like us, when quarantine 2020 started, you might have planted a vegetable garden. Starting the seeds with the kids was a fun activity, plus writing the names of the vegetables on the stakes was great letter practice, too! My neighbors and I were leaving seed packets on porches to trade and make sure we had a variety of seeds to plant with the kids.
My efforts at homeschooling are imperfect at best, but gardening is one skill I have in my toolkit. Well, since I have a Master’s degree in agronomy, it’s mandatory that I know how to grow a garden, at least!
Luckily, zucchini seeds are large and sprout readily and they grow quickly, too! My toddler had so much fun watering the little pots, and it wasn’t until she said ‘look, Mom, a zucchini flower!’ did I realize that it was time to transplant into the ground.
Now, the first few zucchinis are coming in, and my lesson plan of teaching kids the joy of eating what you grow is complete. I’m just waiting for my ‘homeschool teacher of the year’ award to arrive in the mail. Totally kidding--we both know I don't deserve a medal of any kind, especially related to parenting, hah!
Anyway, I modified my mom’s eggless banana bread recipe to make this chocolate chip zucchini bread.
Why I love this chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe:
- My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s partially sweetened with honey. My mom does this with her banana bread, and the floral flavor of the honey really shines through. Plus, honey is slightly acidic and reacts with the baking soda to make the bread rise.
- My zucchini bread with chocolate chips recipe is made with butter, not oil. Most quick bread recipes use oil, which is good, but butter is better in the flavor department.
- I’ve given this recipe in metric measurements and cups, just in case you’re baking with courgettes and a scale on the other side of the pond.
How to make zucchini bread:
First, combine 1 stick of softened butter with the sugar and honey. Use an electric mixer on HIGH to combine. Beat for 1-2 minutes, until it’s nice and fluffy.
Next, add 2 large eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until combined.
Meanwhile, grate one medium zucchini, and place it inside a kitchen towel. Wrap the zucchini into a small bundle, and then wring the towel over a sink to remove excess water from the zucchini. Removing this water will keep the bread from becoming overly wet or soggy. You want to ring it to remove the water 3 or 4 times.
Then, add the zucchini to the bowl and beat to combine.
In order to keep this recipe one-bowl, I like to measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt right into the bowl. Typically, I sprinkle these ingredients evenly over the surface of the bowl to help with combining, but for the sake of showing you the ingredients in the photo, I didn’t do this.
Scrape the batter into a 9” bread loaf pan lined with parchment paper in one direction. You can spray the exposed ends with cooking spray if you like, but I didn’t find this to be necessary. These are not non-stick pans, but a properly cooked bread typically releases from the pan once its cooled just fine. This is true for cakes and breads made with butter, not oil, because butter solidifies at room temperature.
Bake for 45 minutes, and test with a toothpick to ensure that only moist crumbs are clinging to it before removing. I just hung a new oven thermometer in my oven and discovered my oven is running hot, so please test with a toothpick before removing the bread.
Let the bread cool in the pan as long as you can before slicing. I know chocolate chip zucchini bread is hard to resist, but the bread will fall apart if you cut it while it’s hot. Also, letting it cool off will help the butter in the cake firm up and release from the pan.
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
A 9" bread loaf pan of chocolate chip zucchini bread. Makes 10-12 slices.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (4 ounces) runny honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 heaping cup shredded zucchini
- 1 ¾ cup (8.3 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9' x 5" x 3" loaf pan with parchment paper , leaving excess to form handles on the long sides.
- In a large bowl, add the softened butter, sugar and honey. Using an electric mixer on HIGH for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Next, add the eggs and beat just until combined.
- Finally, place the grated zucchini in a clean kitchen towel, wrap it up like a ball and squeeze the excess water out. Wring it 2-3 times to get rid of all of the water that you can. Measure the zucchini again and ensure you have 1 cup.
- Add the grated zucchini to the wet ingredients, and stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt evenly over the surface, adn then stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips last, but save a few for decorating the top of the bread.
- Scrape the zucchini bread batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only moist crumb clinging to it.
- Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan, and then slice to serve.
Notes
Optional add-ins: ¼ cup wheat germ, ½ cup pecans or nuts of your choice.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 149Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 147mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 4g
Cheryl Byerly says
Hi Christina.
Love your site and cookbooks, all very much appreciated since I am a single retiree.
I just went to make the chocolate chip zucchini bread and the butter measurement
confused me. 1/2 cup is 1 stick 8 oz. or do I use a half a stick 4 oz?
Christina Lane says
1/2 cup is 1 stick is 4 ounces, actually. Just 1 stick of butter. Look at the butter box--4 sticks of butter = 16 ounces/ 1 pound. I think you're confused because with liquids, 1/2 cup is 8 ounces, but not with butter.
Cheryl Byerly says
Hi Christina, Love your recipes and cookbooks. On the recipe for Chocolate Zucchini
bread what is the butter amount suppose to be 4 oz or 8 oz. ? Thanks, have a great 4th.
Deborah says
I'm not a honey fan at all. Can it be omitted and the sugar amount increased to 2/3 cup? Mini chocolate chips sound like a good alternative to the more traditional raisins used in most zucchini recipes - yum!
Christina Lane says
Yes, try it this way :)
Mandira Ravindranath says
Could one use brown sugar here?
Christina Lane says
I wouldn't, because the extra molasses might make your batter too wet, which would change the cooking time. I'm sorry!