This Yogurt Chocolate Zucchini Bread is so moist and rich that I could even call them zucchini brownies in a loaf shape. Do you hear me zucchini haters? This bread will make you love zucchini! I’m pretty sure that you will be making this bread quite often and regret those years when you used to refuse eating zucchini. Video included in the post!
You should try this recipe before zucchini season ends. I know you can still find zucchini in winter, but they are not good enough and you will probably end up with a less moist or even a dry bread. Also, I don’t think winter zucchini has even the half of the vitamins summer zucchini does.
Why We Like It
The best thing about this bread for chocolate lovers is that it’s almost guilt-free because it is made with yogurt, which helps the moistness and a little olive oil. I used plain yogurt in this recipe and I didn’t have to add much olive oil, which is another great thing about this chocolate zucchini bread. Homemade Greek yogurt would work fine too, but the amount might need to be increased a little.
What's more, it contains LOTS of shredded zucchini. It is the secret ingredient which makes the bread wonderfully moist. You end up with a super yummy chocolate bread packed with zucchini, which doesn't taste in the bread at all. Can you imagine that?
How to prepare zucchini
As you can see in the video below, we don't need to peel the zucchinis. Just use them with their skin on, they cook through in the oven. What's more, those tiny green pieces make a nice texture inside the bread when it is sliced.
Use a big hole cheese grater to grate the zucchinis. If you use a small one, you will end up with a pile of watery zucchini and it will effect the baking of your bread even if you squeeze it.
Grate the zucchinis on a piece of paper towel and then squeeze lightly in your hands. Don't try to remove all the juice. The zucchini shreds should still be moist so that the bread is perfectly moist when baked. Watch the video below to see how I do this step.
If you love your chocolate bread very chocolaty, then use chocolate chips in this bread just like I did. You can never have enough chocolate, right? Don’t forget to top your bread with extra chocolate chips before baking! It will have a sublime tempting look with chocolate chips.
These ingredients make two loaves of chocolate zucchini bread and my humble suggestion is that you should take one of the loaves to your neighbour because believe me the tempting smell of this bread will even reach next door. Another suggestion could be giving one of them to a friend who hates zucchini and don’t tell him the secret ingredient until he finishes the loaf!
Tips
After receiving several questions, I think it would be better to make some points more clear.
- Some readers had doubts about the amount of flour. They think it should be more. Well, my cup size is 250ml and the amount of flour in this recipe is definitely enough. If you add more, your bread will not be that moist.
- I sometimes bake it in one loaf pan and 6 muffin liners instead of using two loaf pans. The size of my loaf pan is 20x10x6cm (8x4x2 ½ inches).
- Some readers had trouble with the amount of grated zucchini. Could that be because they measure the zucchini before squeezing? You should grate and squeeze and then measure it to 3 cups. Don't try to squeeze all the juice though, just squeeze it in your hands in batches.
Hope these help you to have a great result from my recipe.
Are you following a vegan diet? Here is my alternative that is as yummy as this bread: Vegan Zucchini Bread
Need a gluten-free version? Check the following recipe out! You might just need to add a little cocoa powder more chocolate flavor.
Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread from Making Thyme for Health
More Chocolate Recipes
Sign up for the FREE Give Recipe Newsletter to get the new recipes into your inbox!
And stay in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram for all the latest updates.
📖 Recipe
Yogurt Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Video
INGREDIENTS
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 and ½ cups flour
- 1 and ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups grated and squeezed zucchini
- 1 cup chocolate chips plus ¼ cup for topping
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease 2 loaf pans (8 x4 inches) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Add in olive oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Add in cocoa and mix with a spatula.
- Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and sift into the egg wet mixture. Stir until smooth, but don’t overdo it.
- Add in grated zucchini and stir just until it is coated with the batter.
- Put 1 cup chocolate chips into a medium bowl. Sprinkle a little flour over them, stir and fold in the batter. Don’t overmix it.
- Share the batter into the pans. Top each with extra chocolate chips and bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out slightly moist and with tiny pieces around.
- Let it cool completely before slicing and serving.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Krystal bowman says
Wow so amazing thank you for your recipe I'm definitely making this again!
And the recipe did not need any changes and its perfect for two pans
Zerrin says
Thank you so much Krystal! This was the comment I'd been waiting for 🙂 Nice to hear that someone tried this recipe and loved as much as I did.
Kathy says
These were a hit at a family cookout! I used applesauce instead of oil and used greek yogurt too! Super yummy and enjoyed by both kids and adults! I will be using this recipe again! SCRUMPTIOUS!!
Zerrin says
Thanks Kathy for letting me know that the recipe worked for you. Although I've made it a couple of times with the same recipe, after receiving several negative comments about it, I started to think if there is something wrong with it. So maybe the problem for those who experienced a bad result as the yogurt they used. Maybe it was too juicy. Using applesauce makes this yummy chocolate zucchini bread even healthier. Thanks for the idea!
Jessica says
The nutrition information just says "2 loaves". Do you happen to have any actual nutritional info on this recipe. I am specifically wondering about calories per serving.
Zerrin says
Sorry for that mistake. Unfortunately I don't know about calculating calories much.
Melissa G. says
I love to bake and try new things. This did not turn out well. I'm actually going to throw it away and I HATE throwing food away.
Zerrin says
I'm really sorry to hear that. What went wrong? I'd love to help because I hate when a recipe doesn't work too and when I have to throw food away.
Amy says
The same thing happened to me. The flavor was okay but the consistency was gummy. The cakes collapsed on cooling and did not look good enough to give away as I planned. Arghhhhhhhh.
Deborah Reid says
Hello:
I followed the directions exactly (and I'm skilled) and my bread looks nothing like your pictures and the results were mediocre at best. I can't figure out why the batter was divided into 2 pans?
When I was searching for the website for this recipe I discovered a similar recipe (with a few minor ingredient changes) here - http://www.barbarabakes.com/2012/07/chocolate-chocolate-chip-zucchini-bread-2/
Blog recipes - the culinary equivalent of a trip to Vegas.
Deborah Reid
Zerrin says
Hi Deborah! After hearing such feedbacks from some other readers as well, I've decided to make the recipe again very soon to see if I've written anything wrong. Then I will update the recipe here if needed. I divided the batter into 2 pans because it was too much for one.
Thanks for sharing another chocolate zucchini bread recipe here. Will check it out for sure.
Amanda says
I think I'm having the same problem here. Any update on this?
Phyllis Latterell says
Debra, Have you tried the other recipe? After two tries and failure on this one, I'm afraid to try another one! Although the reviews on the other one are all good ones. We are having a family gathering this weekend and I was making it for that.
Michelle says
I didn't have applesauce on hand so substituted coconut oil. The batter was not enough for 2 loaves. It made one loaf and 4 muffins. The zucchini was measured pre-ringout, so i'm wondering if that attributed to it? I was also expecting it to rise like a traditional bread. Wouldn't baking soda make it rise instead of baking powder?
This was a really tasty treat and I will make it again with applesauce. The coconut oil does give it a nice taste though!
Michelle says
I mean I substituted the coconut oil in place of olive oil.
Rosie says
I too decided to make mini-muffins instead of loaves. In making muffins/mini-muffins, I used liners and thought that baking 10-15 minutes would be sufficient. Luckily, I had a tester tray of only 4 muffins. Well...they didn't bake all the way through. I filled the next tray of 24 muffins and increased to 18-20 after searching the web for some sort of conversion information (loaves to muffins). They, too, came out uncooked (I ended up putting them back in for an additional 5 minutes). Next batch, increased to 25 minutes...we'll see how they turn out. I used a toothpick in the center to test them and it did come out clean, but after taking them out and checking them, I felt they could still use more time baking.
I hope they turn out okay, these muffins are for football snack related theme at our office cook-off. Of course, I didn't see the above comments about adding more flour and less grated zucchini until all the mini-muffins had already been baked. 🙁
Betsy says
My tester also came out clean, but they were not finished baking.
Leesie says
I will definitely try this recipe and it will go in my recipe box. I always grow zucchini in my garden.
I had an opportunity to read your blog tonight, it's been a busy summer here so I needed to catch up! What a wonderful job you've done, Zerrin. Each and every recipe and your magnificent photos made me want to get back in the kitchen and try them all - pronto! xo
adriano says
cup size ?? 250 ml?
Zerrin says
250ml, right.
Dee says
Ml = mililiter. Liters are used to measure liquids whereas solids like flour and zucchini should be measured in grams. Your recipe uses cups. One cup is 8 ounces. 250 ml is actually 8.45 ounce. You need to get yourself a set of standard measuring devices. And decide on metric or American measurements. They aren't interchangeable.
Erica says
I made this today but used coconut sugar instead of white and it was fine. I also only used 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of zucchini. I grated the zucchini and also chopped it up so it wouldn't be so chunky. I used the milk chocolate chips and it was delicious. I also used just one 8x4 pan since I cut out a cup of flour and zucchini. It puffed up nicely and stayed up.
Kim says
These look delicious but I'm wondering about the grated and squeezed zucchini. Am I supposed to squeeze all the water out of the zucchini before adding it? I thought the moisture in the zucchini was what made this so moisto squeezing the water out didn't quite make sense. Thanks!
Erica says
When I made this I grated it, chopped it then put it all on a paper towel and sort of soaked the water with another paper towel. But I too was afraid of not having enough moisture so I just blotted the zucchini and it turned out just fine.
Zerrin says
Thank you so much Erica for sharing your experience with us!
Zerrin says
Hi Kim, you don't need to try to squeeze all the water, but squeeze most of it. The bread will still be moist because zucchini will still release a little water when baking. Also the texture of zucchini will add to the moistness. 3 cups of grated zucchini will make the bread moist enough. Another thing is that I used yogurt in this bread and it helps the moistness as well. Hope you enjoy when you try!
Jan says
Made muffins as well. I wish I would have listened to myself: my favorite zucchini bread recipe has 2 cups of zucchini and 2 cups of flour. These sunk while cooling, and I thought were a bit gummy. I would decrease zucchini and increase flour.
Starla C says
yeah i had trouble too. Tried making muffins, followed the recipe exact and they cooked for an hour, an HOUR- muffins.. and were still slightly gooey. Needs more flour i think. Unless maybe I didn't squeeze the zucchini well enough? But man, I squeezed the hell out of it, thought it was enough. Maybe letting the shreds sit out on a towel for awhile? Hmm. I like the idea though and the basic taste is perfect.
Amanda says
Agreed! there was way too much zucchini in this recipe. You can easily see it when you cut each slice which isn't the most appetizing thing to see. Mine also sunk when cooling, and I did not see why the batter was separated into two pans. Next time I'll decrease the zucchini and only bake in one pan.
Fran Borelo says
I made two loaves today and the batter was very smooth. The two loaves rose in the pans, however, during the cooling time they collapsed. They were very dense and not like the photos. The taste was not the greatest. All that I tasted was the olive oil. I'm not sure if the olive oil or too much zucchini may have caused the loaves to sink.
Zerrin says
Sorry to hear that Fran! I guess the amount of flour was not enough or zucchinis you used were too juicy.
Phyllis Latterell says
I had the same problem. I actually made the recipe twice! Thinking that I had done something wrong the first time. The loves didn't rise much and when they cooled they sank. It was not even edible. I wondered if there was a typo in the recipe. I was surprised that it was baking powder and not baking soda. My other zucchini bread recipe calls for baking soda. Was very disappointed!
Zerrin says
Really sorry to hear that Phyllis. I'm really confused about this recipe. Some of the readers are successful with it while the others are disappointed. I really wish I knew the problem for those who ended up with failure.
Laurel says
I made this bread today and it was very good! Very moist and good flavor. Our zucchini was a bit chunky for the kids' taste so next time I'll shred it smaller. I used gluten free flour (Domata) for 1 cup of the flour and almond flour for 1/2 cup to make this gluten free. It worked well! Thanks for the recipe!
Laura says
Thanks Laurel for the tip! I shredded it smaller and was pleased with the outcome... good call.
Elizabeth says
I just made this recipe,however, instead of bread I made muffins. I shortened the baking time to about 20 minutes, just had to keep checking on the muffins and baked until they were cooked through. I used plain greek yogurt because it was what I had in the fridge! These turned out great and are SO delicious. Thanks for a new recipe that I will be sure to make again.
Deanna says
I also used Greek yogurt and made muffins....but mine turned out so bad. They were so rubbery...any suggestions what I may have done wrong.
Zerrin says
So sorry to hear that Deanna! Could it be the baking duration?
Monique says
I love the simply ingredients. The bread looks very moist and mouth watering. I will definitely make the recipe. I love anything with chocolate AND eating a healthy portion of zucchini. Thanks for the recipe.