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by Haley//September 6, 2015 (updated April 16, 2021)
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Chocolate zucchini banana bread is dense and moist. Filled with chocolate chips, it’s the perfect bread to eat any time of day!
Could’ve had a V8! Not so fast, try this chocolate zucchini banana bread instead. Yep, that’s right. This bread delivers a serving of fruit and vegetables, not to mention a way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
My sister shared this recipe with me and I am glad she did. This bread is so good. It’s basically like having dessert for breakfast. Between the banana flavor and the chocolate chips, your sweet tooth will be satisfied.
Why this recipe works: The zucchini’s high water content combined with the softness of the banana makes incredibly moist and dense texture. Even with those ingredients, there is still a tender crumb with each slice. Each bite has a morsel of melted chocolate. I chose to sprinkle the top of the load with extra chocolate chips to add a pretty finish.
Table of Contents
How to make chocolate zucchini banana bread
The recipe is a quick bread recipe, which means is quick and easy to make! Use two bowls when making this chocolate zucchini banana bread. One bowl is for the dry ingredients and the other bowl is for the wet ingredients.
I prefer using a hand mixer or stand mixer to combine the wet and dry ingredients, but they can also be stirred together by hand. The latter method just requires a little more elbow grease! Transfer the batter to a prepared 9×5 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with little to no crumbs.
Helpful tips
Whenever baking with ripe bananas be sure they have a brown banana peel. The bananas are riper, softer and sweeter at this stage. This provides natural sugars to the chocolate banana zucchini bread. To make sure the bread is soft, pat the zucchini dry. If there is too much moisture in the bread then it will turn out mushy and dense.
As far as the chocolate goes, use whatever chocolate chips you have on hand (I prefer Ghirardelli) and the cocoa powder must be unsweetened. When stirring the dry and wet ingredients together, avoid over mixing as that will result in a dense loaf too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make chocolate zucchini banana bread into muffins?
Yes. Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full. Bake at 400 F 18 to 20 minutes.
Can i freeze chocolate zucchini banana bread?
Yes. Let the loaf cool completely, then wrap the loaf in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before bringing to room temperature.
Why is my bread dense and gummy?
There was probably too much banana added or the zucchini wasn’t patted dry. When in doubt, weigh your ingredients for accurate measuring.
Do you peel zucchini before shredding?
No. Just rinse and dry the zucchini and shred it. Discard the ends.
In my opinion, the best way to get my serving of fruits and vegetables is masked in chocolate. If you agree, then try my chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate buttercream frosting or double chocolate zucchini muffins.
If you want to try zucchini recipes without chocolate, try my zucchini banana bread or zucchini bread muffins! They’re also the perfect recipes for extra zucchini you may have in the kitchen this summer!
This bread is good for dessert, mid-afternoon snack or even breakfast. If you’re on the go in the morning, grab a slice. Need a chocolate fix before bed? Cut yourself a piece and serve it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Who said your fruits and veggies couldn’t be served with a healthy dose of chocolate?
Did you love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below and if you REALLY loved it, consider leaving a comment further down the page.
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Zucchini Banana Bread
Yield: 10 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 45 minutes mins
Total Time: 55 minutes mins
Chocolate zucchini banana bread is dense and moist. Filled with chocolate chips, it’s the perfect bread to eat any time of day!
4.98 (46 ratings)
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Ingredients
- ½ cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, (approximately 300 g or two medium zucchinis, patted dry)
- ¾ cup mashed ripe bananas, (approximately 175 g or two medium bananas)
- 1 cup (175 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 5×9 loaf pan with non-stick spray, set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together oil, vanilla and both sugars. Stir in eggs, bananas and shredded zucchini. Stir until well combined.
Fold in dry ingredients just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean with a few moist crumbs sticking to the toothpick.
Remove from oven and let cool completely. Slice and serve.
Notes
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 250kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 36mg, Sodium: 191mg, Potassium: 259mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 30g, Vitamin A: 108IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 37mg, Iron: 2mg
Author: Haley D Williams
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Recipe adapted from Fork vs. Spoon
This recipe also works in mini loaf tins! Split the batter between two small loaf pans and cut the baking time down to 40 to 50 minutes.
Banana Chocolate Summer Recipes Zucchini Recipes
75 comments //Leave a Comment or Review »
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Laura —Reply
I just put this in oven. Husband should be excited. Chocolate.
Haley —
Yum, yum! He will enjoy it 🙂
SuzieQ —
I decided to make muffins instead and they turned out great! I follow the recipe for the most part. I used 4 medium sized banana to add a richer banana flavor. I also cut the vegetable oil in half to 1/4 cup, then added 1/4 cup regular apple sauce. (This saves calories and can also brighten the flavor of any sweet bread) . I got 24 perfect flavorful delicious chocolate muffins! Thanks for the wonderful recipe. (:
Carolanna Dyck —Reply
Made this this afternoon. Hubby and I enjoyed a small slice after dinner. Yummo!! Made one small change — I used sour cream instead of oil. Used Ghiradelli cocoa powder. I plan to try this with whole wheat flour only because I like the texture. Try this recipe, you won’t be sorry you did.
Haley —
Hi Carolanna, what great substitutions! I love hearing from readers who are confident in making the recipe their own. Sounds delicious – of course your hubby enjoyed it!
Joanie —
Thanks for the sour cream tip. Trying it right now.
Agnes —Reply
Does the zucchini need to be peeled ?
Haley —
Hi Agnus! No, the zucchini does not need to be peeled—just shredded!
Agnes —Reply
Thank you! , so excited to bake this ?
Kathy —Reply
Have you ever made this as muffins? If so bake time? Can’t wait to try!
Haley —
Hi Kathy! I have no made this as muffins, but it sounds delicious! I recommend a baking time of 20-25 minutes (standard time for most muffins), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with little to no crumbs. Good luck!
Reena —Reply
Made this today!! Delicious!! For any vegans out there, I used vegan chocolate chips and instead of eggs, I used 2 tbsp of chia seeds and 6 tbsp of water. Took a little longer to bake but came out delicious!!
Rachel Youssef —Reply
This is now the second time I have made this delicious recipe. I was curious if you think it would save well if I froze it?
I love this recipe, but given it’s just me and my husband we never finish the whole loaf.
Thanks!
Haley —
Hi Rachel! I love that you and your husband enjoy this recipe. You can definitely freeze the loaf (or half of it) for up to a month. A word of advice though, don’t use the microwave to defrost it. Just let it sit in the refrigerator or at room temperature. xx Haley
Angie —Reply
I made this over the weekend. But I tweaked it to make it a little healthier. I traded the oil for unsweetened applesauce, the brown sugar for 2 tbls of honey, I used brown rice flour instead of regular flour and I used organic pure cane sugar in place of the regular sugar. It was a big hit! Even the non-healthy eaters really liked it! The loafs were very soft and moist. I will definitely make this again!
Haley —
Hi Angie! I LOVE your adaptation! Sounds super healthy. Way to go!
trudy —Reply
Just took this out of the oven. Questions-I baked this almost 2 hours and it still was raw in the center. When I made the batter it filled a loaf pan to the top! Knew this was wrong but baked it anyway. My oven is fine by the way. Can’t figure out why this went so wrong…….however I haven’t cut or tasted this yet so maybe it’s wonderful?
Haley —
Hi Trudy! That’s so strange. I’ve made this recipe a few times and haven’t had any issues with the timing, although it is usually closer to an hour. Did you double check the ingredient list and pat the zucchini dry? And do you keep an oven thermometer inside your oven? I don’t always trust the meter when I preheat the oven (Once I used an oven that was 25 degrees off!).
trudy —Reply
Just tasted a bit of the overflowing crust and it’s yummy! Will let you know how the loaf came out when it cools.
Trudy —
Came out great! Tastes moist and chocolaty. Rechecked oven-it’s fine -rechecked ingredients -zucchini was well dried-maybe the bananas were too large? Batter seriously filled loaf pan to the top! Will try this again cause it’s really good but will try a larger pan . Thanks for the recipe!
Siera —Reply
Can you taste the bananas? Sounds yummy except my husband hates the taste of banana lol
Haley —
Hi Siera! You can’t really taste the banana. Chocolate is definitely the dominant flavor for this bread 🙂
Kimberly —Reply
This is so simple and most delicious! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! Life is short…. I’m going in for another piece ?
Jacqueline —Reply
I have a question. Can I substitute the vegetable oil with coconut oil instead?
Haley —
Hi Jacqueline – I have never made this recipe with coconut oil and don’t often bake with coconut oil so I would not suggest it. If you do happen to try it, please let me know how it turns out!
Tierney —Reply
Looks delicious! Can I make this in two mini loaf pans? If so, what would I change the baking times to?
Haley —
Hi Tierney! If you make these in mini loaf pans, I would check on them around 30 to 35 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, then the loaves are done. (Careful though, sometimes the toothpick goes right into a melted chocolate chip!)
Janessa Schlegel —Reply
Super yummy! I used more bananas to make up for only having 1/2 cup of zucchini and it was perfect. Also used black cocoa so its super dark and yummy. Thanks for the recipe!
Steph —Reply
This bread is so very good! I put mine in mini muffin tins so my toddler could eat it easily. It works perfectly, takes about 12-13 minutes. I also used coconut oil and it works fine as long as it’s liquid. Loved it as a snack and perfect for breakfast too, what a treat!
Linda Massey —Reply
This is absolutely delicious. I am making it for the second time but in a 8 x 9 pan as a birthday cake. I substituted xylitol for the white sugar and did half vegetable oil and 1/2 liquid coconut oil. will probably try sour cream next time as some others did. Will see how it turns out.
Joani —Reply
Do we have any nutrition facts for this recipe? It’s delicious!!
Lana —Reply
Hi
Found this delicious recipe and was wondering when you,say shred is that like scraping against a cheese grater or using a potato peeler. As you can tell new to doing this sort of thing . I know how to chop, dice and slice but shred is new to me.
ThanksHaley —
Hi Lana – scrape against a cheese grater is correct! A potato peeler will make shreds too big.
camila hurst —Reply
I am IN LOVE with this!! I remember pinning this!! so delicious!
Sonal —Reply
Omg 😲.. this zucchini banana bread looks absolutely stunning..and delightful. Worth trying for sure!
Tilly —Reply
Only eating my greens covered in chocolate now haha! Love the texture the zucchini adds.
Natalie —Reply
I love the idea of adding zucchini to chocolate banana bread! I bet it’s so moist and rich! Can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂
Brian —Reply
What a delicious sounding sweet treat, love it!
Amber —Reply
I have made this recipe several times and it’s my favorite way to use zucchini from my garden. Very very yummy!! I follow the instructions exactly and it’s perfect every time. I like to make muffins instead of a loaf. One batch makes 18 muffins. Bake time for muffins is 18 minutes at 350 degrees. For chocolate peanut butter lovers try half chocolate half peanut butter baking chips. Sooo good!!
Haley —
Thank you so much, Amber! Love the addition of PB chips!
DA Szatkowski —Reply
Son & daughter-in-law gave me a couple zucchini, I had bananas & I used spent grain flour (flour made from dried hops from beer; use as you would wheat flour. I substituted a heaping 1/4 cup for 1/4 cup AP flour) I made 12 regular sized muffins(bake about 22 min. Turning 1/2 way through) & 24 min muffins (bake about 15-18 min. Turning 1/2 way through). They are SOOOO good. This recipe is a keeper
Kelsey —Reply
Do you have the nutrition info for this? Calories?
Amy —
Yum…oh wait…YUM! Per directions….perfect!
Teresa —Reply
Made this this morning but in muffin tins as I deliver meals on wheels and like to take my clients a treat. Baked them for 18 minuets and they were delicious. Thanks for the recipe. Will definitely make again.
Ann —Reply
Made this morning, used a muffin tin, cupcake papers and doubled the batch so I could share with friends. They look awesome and smell heavenly! I used mini chicolate chips and added walnuts..No issues with this recipe at all. Thank you!
Alyssa —Reply
H A L E Y, thanks! Very tasty bread turned out. Very cool photos!
Amélie Gavart —Reply
I’ve been meaning to try and make a courgette and banana chocolate cake since my coworker made one last summer. So glad my quest for a recipe led me to your blog! Also, I quite possibly just made the best cake I’ve ever made thanks to you. Thank you!
Kristen Joiner —Reply
Absolutely loved this recipe! I did make some adjustments based off of what I had on hand.
– 100% cocoa instead of dark chocolate cocoa
– Greek yogurt instead of oil
– chopped up 75% dark chocolate and added it with chocolate chipsSam —Reply
This is my go-to recipe for banana bread! I occasionally add crushed cashews and after substituting coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, I’m never going back. It’s like eating an almond joy bread – delicious.
Amy —Reply
Oh my gosh,…seriously YUM! I was wondering if you have the nutritional information on this? I need to just eat ONE piece! 🤣
Marie —Reply
Absolutely mouth-watering! My new favorite zucchini bread!
Paige —Reply
Best loaf ever! If you want to impress people with your baking skills (even when the are very much lacking) make this loaf. It is so decedent and delicious. Easy to make and even better to eat. I needed the full amount of suggested time.
Debbie —Reply
made this today and it was awesome. I used coconut oil instead of veggy oil (I use this in my cakes all the time it is my secret ingredient). I also used 3 banannas, 1tsp ginger, 1/2tsp nutmeg and 1tsp expresso powder to bring out the chocolate flavor. I ended up baking it for almost an hour because I think my pan was a bit smaller (I used the pampered chef bread pan). This bread was so good no one even noticed the zucchini in it. We ate it warm with a bit of salted butter.
Thanks.Stacy —Reply
I forgot to pat dry the zucchini. Baked for 55 minutes as i do with all my banana breads and it almost collapsed on me!! It tastes so wonderful. I think it is my fault for not patting the zucchini dry. Did not bc on one of my gluten free zucchini xoco recipes i never do and it comes out wonderful. Is there a perfect cooking time you suggest in the loaf pans? It really is delish tho!! wish i nailed it.
NonnaTLC —Reply
Just finished these…
Doing a kitchen reno, so had to use airfryer. Here’s my experience…
I actually weighed all my ingredients so as to make sure I did it right the first time. (I used to be braver and sub out ingredients, but I now do my baking scientifically) I baked them in the airfryer in silicone cupcakes molds, 6 at a time, 330° for 25 minutes. The next 6 I skipped the molds and just used paper liners, they baked much faster and a bit more evenly. They were yummy.
I even added a chocolate ganache on top (DH LOVES chocolate!) and they were rebranded as “cupcakes” for my DH’s desserts for work this coming week 😉
Thank you for this recipe! I’ll be making this again!Vicky —Reply
I am always looking for recipes that use zucchini and I have to say this is one of the best recipes I have ever made, it was very chocolaty and moist, you could actually taste the banana. I think I did use more chocolate chips, I am a chocoholic, LOL! I usually give away whatever I bake so instead of making it as bread I used cupcake pans with liners and made 18 muffins. This will definitely be a recipe I will use whenever I have extra zucchini!!
Jill —Reply
This was great- moist, dense and not overly sweet.
M.Armstrong —Reply
This works best with store bought zucchini which tends to be drier than fresh home grown. Even with pressing my garden fresh between paper towels, and it wasn’t really wet to begin with, ‘this recipe came out a little gooey in the middle. Next time I will use less zucchini, decrease the oven temp to 325 and extend the time to keep the top from getting overcooked and the middle time to get done. Was pretty tasty anyway..like a gooey brownie. The chocolate overpowers the banana.
Lindsay —Reply
Oh man was this ever delicious! So chocolatety and moist, I don’t often review recipes but this one stood out!! Warmed up with vanilla ice cream, yes please!
miran —Reply
I have honestly lost count of how many times I’ve made this recipe – it is THE reason we grow zucchini. This recipe is also the reason I don’t feel bad when I forget we have zucchini in the yard, and so a single one ends up being two pounds before I bring it in 😉
First I made it as written – it’s great! But, it’s definitely more of an indulgence than a daily thing.
Then I tried to ‘healthify’ it with yogurt for the oil, etc. And I tried to cheat by pureeing the zucchini and then draining it. Those changes were pretty darn bad.
(Shredding the zucchini is definitely the way to go. Also, IMO a food scale is a must for this and other baking recipes that call for produce that can vary widely in size and water content. Thanks for including the quantities in grams!)
**Finally, I made the following alterations: a stick of melted (unsalted) butter instead of oil, reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup of each instead of 1/2 cup of each, and reduced to 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chops (roughly – I just dump in a handful!). I alternate between making it as bread, and making it as a pan of 12 muffins (35-45 minute cook time).**
It’s still amazing, and these relatively small changes cut the calories by 30%, mostly in sugar. I can feed it to the kids (and myself) as a regular treat instead of on the frequency I might let them have cupcakes.
Thank you for this recipe!
Kristi —Reply
Best one iv ever made seriously it is the most perfect recipe ever.
Barb —Reply
Unfortunately mine did not work out. I measured things exactly as listed, however I suppose I should have used the weight instead of the measurements. I actually went and bought a new 9X5 pan and it was almost overflowing! I squeezed out the zucchini in a tea towel of all liquid, so that wasn’t the issue. I baked it for an extra 45 minutes and I have an oven thermometer and its accurate so what happened? I don’t know. All I can think is that one cup of chocolate chips is not 175grams. I measured one cup of chips and it took the whole bag, which is 250grams my husbands discovered after it was out of the oven. Monumental fail for me. Sure smelled good though. I had also substituted the oil for apple sauce.
Rebecca —Reply
I used part oats/oat flour instead of APF! So good. Delicious.
Sarah —Reply
Decided to go the muffin route as well- at 350, it made 20 muffins (probably should have been 18) and I baked them for 22 minutes- they were perfect! I also swapped the vegetable oil for 1/4 c applesauce and 1/4 c melted coconut oil, used 1.75 med zucchinis and 3 small mashed bananas. I also used a mix of dark, milk and semi-sweet chips. So good!!!
Eileen —Reply
This was definitely the best banana zucchini chocolate bread I’ve made. I needed 60 minutes for cook time which is why they called for. Love all of your recipes thank you
Mum Kelley —Reply
This is a keeper…I made muffins some with chocolate chips and some without., some mini and some full size. Both were great !
KB —Reply
Just made this and it was delicious!! Only substitution I made was 1/2 C. of melted butter instead of oil, because I ran out. Very moist & flavorful. I used mini chips. Will definitely make again, and again.
Ramona —Reply
This bread was so moist and delicious! I like that you included the metric measurements. It’s so much easier when baking to weigh the ingredients. I will be making again. Thank you! 😋
Debra —Reply
Is it possible to omit the Bananas?
Unfortunately, I’ve developed any allergy to them.
Thank you for the recipe!MJ —Reply
OMGoodness I just made this recipe pretty much as stated with the exception that I had 2 ripe bananas that yielded about 1 cup mashed. HANDS DOWN THE BEST ZUCCHINI BREAD RECIPE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We planted zucchini this year and have been up to our ears in it, so looks like I will be baking a lot of this recipe and then freezing so we can enjoy them whenever we want. Super super delish 🙂
Nicole —Reply
Perfect for when you have too many bananas in the freezer and zucchini in the garden. I used half the sugar and did not miss it! You could even go without sugar all together but it does help mix the oil and egg together. The banana and chocolate chips do a great job of keeping things sweet. My whole family loves this recipe. I’m making it on repeat this summer.
Shilp —Reply
Can I add walnuts to thiscrecioe
Haley —
Yes, stir them in when adding the chocolate chips. I suggest 1/2 cup roughly chopped nuts.
Donna Shannon —Reply
I used King Arthur gluten free flour with this delicious recipe., and baked for 50 minutes and it is very moist. I am freezing half of this loaf to share when we travel to my daughter’s home later this month.
Vanessa K —Reply
Wow!!!!! I made this yesterday and this recipe is incredible! One of the few recipes I’ve tried where no adjustments were needed and it turned out perfect. Delicious!
